Gundam Wing in Ancient Japan
by Eeni
Summary: Just a random story that I'm making to keep me writing... a comedy of sorts: Mariemaia is a goddesss? Gundam Wing characters in ancient Japan? What will the boys do to stop the young girl from ruling the past?
1. Where the Hell Are We?

**Disclaimer:** Like everyone else in this site has said, I do not own these characters from the series known as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. The only thing mine here is the story that I made up for these characters ^_^

Also, this is my attempt at making a sort of comedy. There is no serious story here. It's just me making things up as I go along and trying to make it a story. This story will probably be just random blabbering on my behalf. But I still hope that you enjoy it either way

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**_Chapter 1:_**_  
Where The Hell Are We?_

"Quatre?"

The warm morning sun light was streaming down from between the trees that lined the dirt road. The gentle sound of a river could easily be heard somewhere nearby while the wind blew delicately, rustling the leaves in the surrounding trees.

"Quatre, don't die! Please!" continued the tearful voice.

As he slowly opened his eyes, Quatre Raberba Winner blinked at the intensity of the sun's rays beaming down on him. Slowly his green-blue eyes focused on the source of the tearful voice. Mariemaia Krushrenada-Barton sat to his left, looking down at him with tear swollen eyes. She smiled as he looked up at her, genuinely happy to see him open his eyes as a few tears streaked down her ivory skin.

Quatre made an effort to sit up, pain ripping throughout his entire body as he slowly rose to an upright position. The back of his head and neck aced viciously, while all the muscles along his back were sore. He reached up to rub the base of his skull. The blond ran his slender fingers along the back of his head until he felt something warm and sticky.

"What... happened..?" he stared at his blood stained hand in shock.

"You hit your head pretty hard," Mariemaia wiped the tears from her eyes.

Quatre's eyes went wide as a red smudge was left behind on the small girl's pale white face. "Mariemaia... you... you're..." he stuttered as he took notice and pointed to her blood stained dress and hands.

The small girl looked down at herself. "I stained it when I tried to move you," she smiled weakly. "You hit your head on that rock", she pointed to his right. A rock laid in the middle of the road, covered in a deep pool of blood. "The good thing is that your head has stopped bleeding."

Quatre continued to rub the back of his head. "Where are we?" he looked around alarmed. This was definitely not the colony they had been gathered at a short while ago. For one thing, he was able to see the sun and no colony walls.

"I don't know..." the young girl answered meekly.

"Where are the others?" he looked around franticly.

"I'm not sure. I heard Duo land in the river, but when I walked over to see he wasn't there. I'm sure he was dragged downriver." She looked around for a moment, taking in a deep breath. "I think Trowa landed up there", she pointed to a cliff barely visible through the treetops. "And I have no idea what happened to Heero or WuFei."

Quatre stood up and made his way to the river bed with Mariemaia's help. After cleaning themselves up the best they could, the pair decided that the best thing to do would be to follow the river down hill and hopefully be reunited with their friends.

###

Mariemaia had been lagging behind almost all afternoon long. She wasn't used to walking such long distances without stopping. But she complained far less then Quatre could have imagined. For one, she didn't seem to be bothered at the idea that both their stomachs had been growling for the last few hours. And for another, she didn't repeat her discontent the way other small children would do every few minutes.

As evening approached, Quatre lifted her on his back. They continued with their small talk discussing recent Colonial politics and what they've been doing since the end of the wars. In the end, upon the small girl's questioning, Quatre ended up reminiscing about his time as a gundam pilot. She listened attentively, admitting that she had not been well informed about the details of Operation Meteor. All she had ever been told was that she would become ruler of both earth and colonies once the gundams toppled the Earth Alliance and Romefeller. After hours of listening to Quatre's tails, she slip away into sleep, her small body keeping his back warm against the cool evening breeze.

Finally, after an entire day of walking, Quatre reached a fairly sizable village situated on the banks of the river they had been following all day long. As he walked through the village he had come upon he was almost immediately greeted with strange glares and noisy, uneasy whispers by its inhabitants. Children would run up to him, poking him with sticks before running off as he walked down the streets. This normally wouldn't have bothered the youth, except for the fact that absolutely everyone was dressed like they belonged in a history book and seemed to be calling him a demon in Japanese. The young man smiled and thanked Allah and his sisters for insisting that he learn as many languages as he could while growing up.

"Excuses me, Miss," he walked up to young lady at the entrance of what seemed to be a hotel of some sorts, "do you have any more rooms available?"

The young girl looked up at him in what could only be described as utter and complete horror. Her dark brown eyes widened as her jaw swung wide open at the sight set before her. She tried to say something, but her voice seemed to have failed her.

Quatre shuffled Mariemaia around on his back before parting. "Thank you anyways, Miss" he quietly responded in his best Japanese. He walked away nervously. _What is wrong with these people_? he questioned himself.

Before he reached the entry way of the next inn, he was confronted by three men garbed in light summer cloths and a few pieces of armor. Each man possessing a pair of swords at his side and the meanest looking scowls etched into their faces.

"This can't be good..." Quatre muttered to himself.

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A/N: YA! Chapter 1 down!


	2. Goddess

**Disclaimer:** Don't own GundamW... sad day

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**_Chapter 2:_**_  
Goddess_

Mariemaia and Quatre sat isolated in a rather large room. They sat quietly on the lavish cushions next to an extremely low table located in the center of the room, drinking the tea that had been brought to them.

"Aren't you afraid that they might have poisoned the tea?" Mariemaia questioned annoyingly.

He put the small porcelain cup down. "No, it doesn't smell like something was added to it. It doesn't taste odd either."

Mariemaia looked up at him blankly. "You can tell?"

"I've grown up my entire life drinking various teas every day. I know much more about tea then you'd think could possibly be known," he smiled down at her.

"Freak," she muttered under her breath.

He shot a disapproving glared down at her. Before he could say a word, the shoji door at the far right of the room slid open. The two looked up, watching attentively as four elderly men walked in. Each man wore layers upon layers of kimono woven with the finest silk either had ever seen and a strange black hats. The kimono on the old men were long, dragging on the floor behind them and finely decorated with what looked to be threads of gold and silver.

Once the elderly men entered and took their places in pairs to either side of the doorway, a small group of what looked to be servants entered the room and quickly assembled a silk screen curtain. Food and cushions were hastily placed within the confines of the boxed off area. Finally, once everything had been arranged, what looked to be a young man entered and sat himself elegantly behind the curtain.

"Bow before his highness!" one of the elderly men yelled.

"I will not bow to anyone," Mariemaia responded in near perfect Japanese turning her small nose up at him. All four elderly men seemed to be taken aback by the young girl's audacity. Never before had they seen someone openly oppose to bow before His Highness, even less a child.

"How dare you!" responded another of the old men. "Do you wish to-"

"I demand to be taken to my home," the young girl interrupted. They all stared back at her rather confused. She stood up, placing her hands on her small hips she repeated herself. "Did you hear me? I demand that you take me back to my home colony immediately!"

Quatre reached up, taking a firm grip of her hand he gently pulled her down. "What are you doing? These people look like they want to kill us!"

Mariemaia pulled her hand lose. "I didn't ask for your opinion!"

"Highness," one of the elderly men sitting closest to the curtain began in a low tone, "they might be demons here to cause us misfortunes! They might be tengu here to play a cruel trick!"

"I am not a demon!" Mariemaia snapped back.

"The young one heard us from where she is!" he continued. Leaning closer and lowering his voice even more he added, "it proves she is a demon!"

"We're not demons," Quatre responded in a much calmer tone then that of the small girl as he got up from his place casually.

"Can they be gods?" asked another of the men.

"What?" Quatre blinked at them, "no… we're just…"

"Yes of course!" Mariemaia pushed Quatre behind her. "I am the Goddess Mariemaia. I am the Goddess of … ummm… war, yes that's it. And-"

Quatre grabbed the young girl, spinning her around. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed at her.

She smiled evilly at him as her crystal blue eyes narrowed on him. "Unhand me!" she slapped his hands off her shoulders. "Since when have I allowed you to speak to me like that!"

Quatre was taken aback. His jaw slightly opened at the young girl's actions. His lips appeared to be moving but words failed to be formed as his crowded his mind raced furiously for find the proper words to vocalize.

"A Goddess?" questioned the young man behind the curtain.

The small girl turned back to his direction, flashing a brilliant smile. The four elderly men looked at one another in shock before turning to look at the silk screen. The shadow behind the screen seemed uneasy. His Majesty turned to look at one man then the next as if waiting for some sort of a signal. The signal came as each of the elderly men slightly nodded as if approving that what they heard was accurate. Finally, the figure behind the curtain could be seen lowering his head. Without hast, the elderly men did the same, touching their foreheads to the cool wooden floor.

Quatre grabbed the young girl while the men were with their heads to the floor. He tightened his grip on her as she tried in vain to get away. He was not going to stand for this and needed to have a word in private with the girl.

"Ahhh! You're hurting me!" Mariemaia began to cry as she was being dragged to the closest door.

His Majesty looked up to see the pale young man pulling the young Goddess out of the room.

"HELP!" Mariemaia began to cry louder.

"Guards!" His Majesty yelled. Before either Quatre or Mariemaia could realize what was happening, the room was flooded with armed men, all with weapons drawn. "Seize him!"

Quatre released the girl instantly as the guards surrounded him. He put his hands up in the air as the young girl continued to fake her crying and headed away in the direction of the screen curtain. He mentally cursed and promised that he'd do something to make her pay for this.

"Are you alright, Goddess?" his Majesty asked in a caring tone. Mariemaia nodded and wiped away her fake tears as she drew closer to the curtain. "Take him away!" he ordered. Quatre was about to protest when he felt a pair of strong hands take hold of his arms.

"We should kill him as well…" one of the four elderly men commented, "we don't want him to cause any more trouble."

"Yes… execute him" His Majesty ordered.

Quatre's eyes grew large. "WAIT! NOOO!"

"You can't do that!" Mariemaia turned sharply to the curtained box anxiously.

"Why is that, my Goddess?" His Majesty looked down at the young girl with surprise.

"Because… ummm…" she looked over at Quatre then at the young man again, "he's my brother… half brother. He's a demi-god. He's more like my personal slave and I need him!" She looked over at Quatre in time to see him make a disapproving face at her. She shrugged. It was better then having his head sliced off. "If you so much as touch a hair on his head I'll bring war and famine to these lands, destroying you all!"

The guards released Quatre as quickly as they had seized him. He sighed in relief that his head was staying were it belonged and was somewhat glad that the young girl had lied for him so well. But he was even more surprised to realize that these people actually believed her story about being a god.

From behind the silk curtain, His Majesty rose and exited the room. The four elderly men quickly followed, leaving the pair alone once more.

"What the hell just happened?" Quatre returned to speaking Englsih as he was left confused.

Mariemaia shrugged just as confused.

"Do they really believe you're a goddess?" he looked down at the young girl.

"Don't be silly!" she laughed at the suggestion. "They couldn't possibly believe that!"

The two then proceeded to sit down at the small table once again and wait. Before nightfall, they were visited once more by some sort of an official and were informed that from that day on they were to live in their own private residence within the palace and be provided for as honored guests of the Emperor.

And so, the Goddess Mariemaia's short term reign began.

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A/N: I had forgotten to post this up... even though I don't think that anyone is reading this. I'll try to keep posting once a month at least. Enjoy


	3. Field Worker

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own any of the character that belong to GundamW, that's why I'm writting a fanfic.

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_**Chapter 3:**  
Field Worker_

Trowa Barton had been walking down the dirt road for nearly three days. He had been forced to "borrow" clothing seeing as his made him stand out way too much in this place. It had taken him a long time to figure out how to wrap the single length of dark green fabric around himself and he was sure he had botched the process. But it was close enough looking to what others were wearing. The more pressing matter in his mind was trying to figure out where he was.

"Ancient Japan..?" he thought out loud as he pulled an apple from the sack on his back. "Impossible," he murmured, mentally slapping himself for thinking of something so ridiculous. "There's just no way."

He sighed as he stopped for a moment. The field before him was busy with laborers working in the immense rice fields. The beautiful afternoon sun was beaming down as a slight breeze swept through. Trowa found a cozy tree to sit under a fair distance from the road. He glanced down the side of the hill at the town that lay before him. That would be the third he'd come upon since arriving in this strange place. He fished another apple from his bag and looked up at the clear blue sky as he began to eat his meal. _How the hell did I get here? _he wondered.

"Yo! Long time!" came a cheerful voice to Trowa's left. The brunette's head snapped around only to be greeted by the familiar, always happy face of Duo Maxwell. The young man swung his braided hair back as he crouched down, leaning up against a primitive looking plow. "So what brings you around here?"

Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Why are you dressed like that?" he asked looking Duo over once more. The sleeves of the dark kimono he was wearing were tied back with a white sash, exposing his bare forearms which were bandaged, bruised, and covered in mud. The bottom half of his kimono was being held up in the back by the waist band, revealing his spindly legs which were also coated in mud and bruises.

"No reason really..." Duo replied looking down at the ground.

"Really?"

Duo looked up at the silent young man almost annoyed. "You can say that I kinnda owe the land lord of this primitive place my life. Psst!" he hissed. "Damn idiot... I don't owe him squat!"

"What did you do?"

"That's the thing! I didn't do anything!"

"You never do," Trowa smirked.

Duo glared back at him. "Ha ha... you're funny." Again he glanced down. With the tip of the plow he began to draw in the moist earth. They both fell silent as the wind rustled through the trees.

"Well?" Trowa inquired.

"Well what?"

Trowa remained silent for a moment, studding his comrade. "Right then," he began, "where do you think we should go to find the others?"

Duo moaned as he made a face. "I really can't leave right now..."

_Do I really want to know?_ Trowa questioned himself. Of course he wanted to know why, but did he really want to know the story that lead up to this predicament? "So why-"

Trowa was cut short as a man on horse back rode up to the two, hand on the hilt of his sword. In a demanding, booming voice the man yelled something down at the two, unsheathing the sword and pointing it down at the braided youth.

Duo fell to his side, with one hand stretched out before him yelling something in response before he scrambled to his feet. Without uttering another word, Duo raced quickly down the hill side and into one of the many rice fields. He began almost immediately to labor along side the others. Trowa sat bewildered at the sight. It wasn't easy to get Duo to do anything, even less when it meant hard manual labor.

The man on the horse turned slightly to look down at Trowa and muttered something. Trowa stared back blankly. Whatever he said didn't seem to concern him too much because the rider immediately turned his horse around and left.

Trowa sat the rest of the afternoon on the hill side and watched the field workers labor for the rest of the day.

###

"I swear I'll burn this place down!" Duo muttered under his breath.

"Why do you have to work like a slave here?" Trowa questioned again.

"Like a slave?" Duo exclaimed brining his hand up to his chest, "I AM A SLAVE HERE!" He covered his mouth with his hands almost immediately looking around franticly to make sure that no one had heard him. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he realized that no one had paid him any attention. "These stupid people say I owe them my life."

"Because...?" Trowa continued to try and fish out information.

"After I smacked Mariemaia and we all went through that weird whirly-thingy-meggiler, I fell into the river. I almost downed. Supposedly, the fishermen of this place dragged me out the river and took care of me while I was unconscious. When I woke up I was dressed like this and they forced me to work."

"I'm sorry," Trowa sat back, "the idea of you working just because someone tells you too still hasn't sunk in."

"Did you see that guy this afternoon? He's one of the reasons I'm still here!"

"And, you've already tried to run away?"

"Ya," Duo sighed, "I tried to get out of this place about a few days ago, but those jerks are everywhere! They take turns watching us. I still haven't figured out when they switch on and off or how many of them there are." Duo fell back on the hay the two were sitting on. "I was that close to making it out too," he continued, making a pinching motion with his right hand. He sighed as he lay on the hoarse hay, letting his arm fall to the side with a soft crunching sound.

The two sat quietly for a while, watching as the rest of the laborers return from the fields. They all stared at the two young men as they passed. The sun had gone down almost half an hour ago and the stars were beginning to shine brilliantly. The scenery reminded Trowa of the many times he had traveled with his circus troop in the country sides. It was always much more beautiful to gaze at stares in the country then it was in large cities, and much quieter as well.

"I'll help you out." Trowa said, still gazing up at the night sky.

"Hump... try..."

###

The night was cold and just as Duo had said, three men wandered around the farmer's sleeping quarters. Each was equipped with a sword, clad lightly in armor, and looked to be heavily built. And just as it had been agreed earlier, Duo snuck out of his cramped room as soon as the rest of the laborers had fallen asleep. Again, he walked down the darkest of paths and again he was confronted by one of the guards whom glared menacingly down at him.

"Ummm... Nature calling..." Duo began to sweat looking up at what one might consider a body builder. He didn't want to get another beating by this freak again. The guard continued to glare at him. Duo smiled as innocently as he could in the dim moonlight, his palms beginning to sweat uncontrollably. His smile soon began to fade as he watched the guard reach for his sword.

"Epp!" Duo took off running at full speed. "I'll kill you Trowa!" he swore out loud as he turned a corner sharply. The guard trailed close at his heels and nearly caught hold of the end of his braid as he turned the corner of yet another small sleeping quarters.

Another guard soon appeared before Duo as he continued to run down the narrow pathways of the servant's quarters like a headless chicken, all the while cursing loudly. He easily dogged the strong arms that reached out for him and continued running at top speeds. He couldn't stop now. Not with two fully, well build men right behind him ready to beat him senseless again. Sure, last time it was a beating for trying to escape, but who knows what they might do to him this time. Break his legs maybe?

The young braided man picked up more speed at the thought of his legs being broken by people he didn't even know. There was no way in hell was he going let that happen to him! Duo gasped almost out of breath as he looked ahead. He had run into a dead end. The wall before him rose almost ten feet, if not more. He mentally cursed himself. Again, he began to pick up more speed. He ignored the pain in his legs as he continued on his course. Besides, he thought to himself, the pain would be nothing compared to what they might do to him if they caught him.

He was less then ten feet from the wall, it was now or never. He had to climb it and get over in order to escape to safety. If he failed his mission, he was doomed. Two more strides and he will have to literally run up the wall. One more stride... now he prayed that his legs were still strong enough to get him over the wall. Finally, his right foot connected to the wall, his body leaned forward as his hands reached out before him to grab hold of the top of the wall. A wide smile crossed his face as he heaved himself up the wall. HA! Who the hell needed Trowa's lending hand to escape? Pfff! Trowa hadn't helped him at all to escape, he was no where to be seen!

Duo quickly glanced over his shoulder to get a good look at the guards' faces as he made his get-away, but was confronted by something completely unexpected.

Nothing.

Duo's hand slipped on the edge of the wall from shock. Gravity quickly pulled him back down to earth on the other side of the wall. His head hit the cold earth with a loud thudding sound. He cursed loudly as he sat up rubbing his forehead.

Had he imagined not seeing anyone behind? That couldn't be. He had heard the clattering of the amour on the men as they chased him. He could have sworn he had heard the crisp sound of a sword being unsheathed.

"You're faster then I thought," came a familiar melancholy voice, "at least you're still as loud. You'd think that you would be quieter when making a get-way. I'm surprised that no else got here before me with all that cursing your doing."

"Shut up!" Duo hissed as he rubbed his head. "Do you have any idea what those guys would do to me if they caught me!" he hissed.

"What guys?"

"The guards!"

"There are no guards."

"WHAT? Are you blind or something!" Duo got up glaring Trowa in the eye. Before he could utter another word, Trowa pointed to a ladder conveniently located a few feet from them. After taking a moment to realize what it was that his companion was meaning by pointing to the object, Duo angrily climbed the few steps of the ladder, slowly and carefully peering over to the other side. Again he saw nothing. "What the hell...?" he muttered to himself, confused as ever.

"While you were running aimlessly I took the liberty to attack them from behind," Trowa responded. "And I must admit," he added in a taunting tone, "when you put yourself to do something you really do achieve it."

Duo jumped off the ladder and took a good swing at the slender man. Trowa easily side-stepped the attack and watched as Duo stumbled upon his own two feet and fell to the floor again. Duo moaned once more as he rubbed his chin, a single tear rolled down his cheek as he looked up at Trowa with menacing eyes.

Trowa stood there silently for a moment and sighed. "Get up," he finally said, "you're embarrassing yourself again."

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A/N: No, I haven't wanted to neglect this at all. Life just happens and you gotta put down what you're doing and do something else. Anyways, life has been a bit tough with me these last few months. But it's ok because I bounced back and am now doing much better then I was before. So ya, continue reading and enjoy my mumble jumble. Hopefully I can get the next chapter out before the end of October.


	4. The Assassin

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own GundamW...

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**_Chapter 4: _**_  
The Assassin_**_  
_**  
Heero Yuy walked silently through a small village as he continued his search for a familiar face. The idea of actually being in ancient Japan was still not sinking in, but there was really no other place he could be. No one he had encountered so far in his week's journey had ever heard of Colonies or Mobile Suits, they didn't even seem to know what a television was! There were really only three possibilities for this. One was that he was really, somehow, sent back through time and was in what, by all appearances, seemed be ancient Japan. The second was that these people were all living under the same rock and living the same fantasy. Or third, somehow, he was knocked unconscious and then placed into a reality TV show. If those sick TV executives think they could make a fool of him, they really had something else coming to them. God only knows that people's simple minds are so easily entertained with all that garbage that is aired.

Letting his rage subside a bit, he sighed as he watched a few children run ahead of him playing swords using shinai. He studied them for a while as they continued to bash the wooden weapons against each other. He watched as they skillfully swung, parried, and attacked one another until they disappeared behind a building. By the appearance of all things he had encountered so far, and the fact that no network would actually behead a person (as he had witnessed earlier that morning) it seemed like the first of his three options was the truth. His head began to ache again as he thought about the situation. He really wanted to go back home now.

"Have you heard, the Goddess Amaterasu has descended from the heavens!" a man questioned a vender at a stand.

"It's not just a rumor?" inquired the vender.

"No," replied the man, "They say that she wants to conquer all the land possible and unite the kingdom."

Heero frowned at the thought of all these people actually believing that there were such things as gods and goddesses. Sure, even he believed that there was some sort of force at work that made certain things happen, but just not an actual being that people could perceive with any of their five senses. He believed in something more along the lines of the Force. You know, a sort of life force that is thought to be in all living beings, in which the Force makes you sensitive to other living things, makes you intuitive, and allows you to read other people's minds, kinnda like Quatre, et cetera.

Anyways, let's continue with the story.

"She came to his lordship in the form of a child, going by the name Mariemaia O-hime. She plans to unite all the provinces and to conquer other lands," jumped in another man.

At this, Heero stopped in his track. "Mariemaia O-hime..?" he questioned himself.

"I hear that the Goddess is a marvel to behold," interrupted the first man again. "That her hair is like fire and her eyes like the sky!"

"I've heard that the Goddess has destroyed and taken control of many lands in just the few days since she's arrived at the services of His Majesty. That she's imposed strict mandates on the conquered lands. "

"Could it really be that a mere child could rule many lands with such an iron fist?"

Heero laughed nervously as the description of this so-called goddess matched that of the little girl he had met only a few years ago. It was almost ironic to him that she'd try and play the role of a ruler once more. Would she succeed this time? Only time, and later on history, would tell.

"And where is this 'goddess'"? Heero questioned as he approached the vendor's stand.

The three men looked down at him. The vender raised his hand and pointed behind the other two men and Heero. "It's about a two day's walk over that mountain range, young man. Give or take," he informed.

"Thanks," Heero turned to start his long walk.

"You best be careful, boy," warned the first man, "they say there's a ruthless assassin living in the villages along that road. He's a demon that kills even women and children, that's what they say."

"Ruthless assassin," Heero shrugged the old men off as he continued on his way. "They've never seen me with a sniper rifle equipped with a silencer..."

###

As the day finally came to its end, Heero looked around at his surroundings to see if he could find a place to spend the night. There were no signs of life anywhere. Alright, maybe he should have stayed at the last inn about an hours walk back. He sighed. Well, there was no point in turning back now. He continued on his way as a cold wind picked up around him, sending shivers down his back. How the hell did people live past the Middle Ages with just a gii and hakama? These items of clothing offered absolutely no protection against the cold. It was a miracle that the history books weren't full of people freezing to death each winter!

A twig cracked. Heero instinctively reached for the gun at his side only to realize that he wasn't carrying a gun. He cursed to himself as he quickly realized that he was completely weaponless. His dark blue eyes scanned the surrounding areas as he stood still, carefully listening to anything that moved.

Suddenly, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Instinctively, he turned, arching his body to one side and ultimately falling to the floor as a sword was thrust into what would have been his back. With his left foot on the ankle of his attacker and his right leg swinging at full strength at the back of his attacker's knee, the young man knocked his enemy down. Without hesitation, he reached for his attacker's arm, twisting it behind the fallen man and jabbed is knee into the back of his attacker's neck.

"Heero?"

Heero released his grip on his attacker. Taking a step back he looked down at his assailant slightly muddled. The man on the floor slowly got up and dusted himself off. "I was wondering where you had gone to."

The voice finally became familiar. "WuFei..." he stammered.

WuFei Chang continued dusting himself off in the dim moonlight. He was still wearing his traditional white Chinese clothing, but had what looked to be a dark colored scarf wrapped around his neck and shoulders and some sort of belt around his waist with a scabbard at his left hip. Silently, the young Chinese man reached down and picked up his sword, quickly returning it to its sheath. He looked around in the dark night. "You're alone as well, I see," he commented.

Heero nodded. He paused for a moment looking the Chinese man over. "You're the assassin?" he questioned surprised.

WuFei looked over at him with a blank expression. "Assassin?" he questioned. "What do you take me for?"

"So you haven't been killing people in these areas?"

WuFei glared at Heero rather annoyed. "Why would I kill people?"

"Well, you just tried to kill me," he began. "And then there was that time when you kill a bunch of really inexperienced cadets that were sleeping at Lake Victoria and-"

WuFei quickly unsheathe his sword and took a swing at Heero. The Japanese man, however, took a few steps back and stood ready for a fight. He might be unarmed but he was just as dangerous. The two glared at one another, waiting for the other to take the first step.

Before either one could make a single move, they heard something snap. The two looked over to the source of the sound and watched silently, waiting for something to emerge from the bushes. After a few seconds of intense waiting and sweating a small rabbit hopped out. It looked up at both of them and twitched its pink little nose. The pair looked at each other before returning their attention to the rabbit. The rabbit returned their puzzled look by twitching its whiskers once more.

"That's it!" WuFei returned the sword into its sheath upset. "Stupid animal!"

Heero sighed in relief. "Better a rabbit then some homicida-"

Heero was cut short as someone tackled him to the ground from behind. He hit the cold earth face down and felt the weight of his aggressor as he sat on his back. In an instant, his aggressor wrapped a line of rope around his neck and began to strangle him. For a split second he could feel as his life was draining from him. He franticly reached back to get a grip of his attacker but was unable to.

WuFei stood in shock for a moment. He watched in horror as Heero continued to struggle on the ground with the assailant. The man was nearly three times bigger then the two of them put together and truly looked the part of a maniac. His long, unruly hair flew every which way with each movement he made. His hands and face were filthy. His tattered cloths were also as disgusting looking and his tiny, mad stricken black eyes made WuFei's blood run cold in his veins.

"Wuuoooo..." Heero gasped for air as his eyes began to bulge from their sockets.

WuFei suddenly snapped out of his trance and rushed the few steps before him and the man attacking Heero. In a fluid movement the young Chinese man kicked the assailant square in the face. The man feel back as blood rushed out his nose.

Heero got to his feet the moment he felt the rope loosen around his neck. He gasped for air as he watched the man lay on the floor in a pool of blood. He turned angrily to look at other ex-gundam pilot as he continued to rub his neck. "What the hell were you waiting for!" he hissed at WuFei.

"I just saved your ass and this is how you speak to me?" WuFei snapped back.

"At the rate you were going you could have just waited until I was dead!"

Before either could continue arguing, the crazy man had gotten to his feet once more and was nearly on top of WuFei. Instinctively, WuFei jabbed his sword's hilt into the man's side with all his might, breaking a rib or two as the blow landed. At the same time, Heero dropped his body to the floor and knocked the crazy man's legs out from under him. The man fell face first onto the cold earth. Without wasting time, WuFei brought his sheathed sword down on the back of the man's neck, leaving him motionless on the ground.

Without uttering a single word, Heero began to walk down the road in silence.

"Where are you going?" WuFei asked crossly.

"To find Mariemaia and get the hell out of this place," Heero responded just as crossly, if not even more.

WuFei followed. He certainly didn't want to stay behind in the middle of the night with a crazy, unconscious man next to him. And so, the two young men walked down the road in silence.

The next morning, a young man walking down the small road found the still unconscious body of the assailant lying in the middle of the road. He returned to the village he had past just a few minutes ago and told them of how he valiantly took down the feared Assassin of the Mountains. He was rewarded a hefty amount of money for his valor and was called a Hero. The story of his bravery and valor would later be handed down from generation to generation in this mountain area and a shrine build in his honor.

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A/N: Alright, school is finally out for winter and now it's time to work my behind off so that I can pay my bills! Ummm…. ya, anyways here's the next chapter. I hope that was somewhat of an enjoyable read. Do you like it? Do you think this is a bunch of BS and I should stop wasting precious webspace? Please do tell me your thoughts


	5. The Mission

**Disclaimer:** Like everyone else in this site has said, I do not own these characters from the series known as Gundam Wing.

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**_Chapter 5: _**_  
The Mission__  
_  
Trowa and Duo wondered into yet another village as they continued their journey to... well, nowhere in particular. They just both agreed that if they kept walking around they would eventually find something. Whatever that something was.

"I'm so hungry..." Duo began to mumble. He looked around at the stores that lined the street. "What the hell is 'Udon'?" he questioned barely making out the Japanese characters on a small banner outside a restaurant of some sorts.

Trowa shrugged. He had never had the luxury of eating costly foreign foods before in his life so he wasn't really familiar with anything that wasn't as common as sushi. He stopped for a moment and glanced over at Duo. He was rather surprised the braided youth was actually able to read the characters on the banner. Come to think of it, Duo was able to speak pretty well to the guards from the rice field. Not only that, he had taught him how to put his kimono on properly. Trowa continued to stare puzzled. Since when did Duo know how to speak Japanese? Had Heero thought him at some point? How come he had never known this? _Well_, he finally thought to himself, _guess he's not as useless as he looks_. "How is it that you know what that banner said?" he questioned genuinely intrigued.

"Hu?" Duo turned to look at his traveling companion. "Ohh... I started watching anime some time ago and got into the whole Japanese thing. So I started learning it so that I wouldn't have to deal with those horrible English dubs... and I'm just too lazy to read the stupid subtitles that flash by too fast," he stated. "Besides, they're hardly ever translated correctly. Damn FCC and their anime butchering!"

Trowa stared at him blankly.

Anime.

He simply wanted to understand what a cartoon said so that he wouldn't have to read the little subtitles. Why had he actually expected a good response to his question at all? Trowa looked around. Well, at least it wasn't that great of a stupidity. He himself had been unable to speak to anyone when he was traveling alone. His Japanese was extremely limited (or rather, he knew only a handful of phrases) and he couldn't understand a single word written in the language. At least now he'd have some idea of what others said.

"You don't understand Japanese, do you?" Duo questioned.

Trowa shook his head.

"So you have no clue what that guard the other day yelled?"

Trowa waved his hand to signal a "so-so" answer. He might not know, but he could only image what was said.

The braided young man began to laugh slightly. Finally, he had found something that Trowa couldn't do and he could. Oh, how it feels so go to be more useful then someone else!

Trowa sighed as he glared over at his comrade. "I can't even figure out what WuFei mutters, you expect me to know Japanese?" the anger in his voice was become more apparent. He was getting a headache now. How he wanted to get back to his time so that he could just disappear and be left alone again.

Before Duo could continue taunting his friend, a group of men on horses raced down the street. They rod in what looked to be a perfect formation. They wore heavy armor and carried swords at their side. Their horses were well groomed and also sported some sort of armor. Many of the men carried a flag at their side as they rode down the street. People scattered in every which way in order to get out of their way. The men stopped for no one and trampled over a few towns people along their way. They finally came to a stop a few feet from the pair of ex-gundam pilots. The lead rider pulled a scroll from somewhere in his armor and began to read it in a booming voice.

Trowa glanced over at Duo waiting for an interpretation. He watched as Duo made a face every now and then. "What's he saying?"

"Ummm..."

"I thought you said you understood Japanese."

"I do!" Duo protested, "just give me a minute." Trowa rolled his eyes but waited for the interpretation nonetheless. "Something about surrendering or else they'll kill everyone here. This town are belongs to God now."

The two stared at one another in a confused silence.

Trowa turned and began to walk away more annoyed then ever. "'This town are belongs to God' my ass", he muttered under his breath, "why do I even bother!" He continued to half listen as the man on the horse continued reading. This had nothing to do with him and he could care less who owned what town.

"What!" Duo's voice came in a shriek.

Trowa turned to look at Duo. His expression was one of total and complete disbelief. The braided man looked over at his comrade. Raising a hand and pointing at the horseback riders he stated, "They say they belong to Goddess Mariemaia's Divine Army."

###

"How the hell did this happen!" Duo continued to shuffle through the stack of papers he found in the room frantically. "This can't be happening!" he continued to shove papers into the sleeve of his brand new (actually, "borrowed") kimono. Trowa's plan to send him into the inn as a maid where the army was staying at had worked a little too well. With his hair unbraided and dressed up in a pretty kimono, Duo really did look like a woman. A harmless, innocent, young lady. The good part was that he had found the army leader's room. The bad part of it all was that somehow or another, he had been confused for a prostitute or something and was now waiting for the army leader in his room. "I'll kill you, Trowa!" he swore under his breath, "I'll beat him to a bloody pulp, I swear I will!"

Duo suddenly froze as he heard someone at the door of the room. His blood ran cold in his veins for a split second. The door slid open as he dove for the cushion in the center of the room and sat up as pretty as he could. He quickly brushed back his long, wavy hazel brown hair as the man entered the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, young lady," the leader said.

"You could have token longer..." Duo felt his heart pound in his chest. His mind raced to find a way out of the inn, but being in the mist of the enemy's layer and weaponless left him with no choice. There was no way out. He was completely surrounded with absolutely no where to run. He had thought about jumping out the window, but the window overlooked the garden in the middle of the complex. After some time, Duo had decided to just wait it out and look for his best opening to escape. Unfortunately that wasn't happening either. He continued to panic as the man sat down next to him. Duo scooted away briskly. The man laughed slightly as he reached out for the "young maiden".

Duo got up from his place in a panic. Taking a few steps back he began to stammer in his heavy English accent. "Ok man, the truth is I'm not really a woman! I'm a guy! One hundred percent male! I only dressed up as a woman to infiltrate your army and look for stuff!" He instantly covered his mouth wide eyed. _Great_, he thought, _now I gave myself away!_

The leader stared at him confused. "A man?" he questioned.

"Ya," Duo nodded even more nervously. Now, his cover was blown. What would happen to him? He didn't know, but it would be a lot better than having another guy hit on him.

The leader smiled. "I like young men."

###

Trowa heard a loud scream come from the second floor. There was no mistake in his mind, that was Duo. He took the candle he was carrying and lit the gun powder trail he had made. He watched for a moment as the small spark raced down the aisle before him, he then headed out into the garden to his left. A number of soldiers stared at him as he raced past them, but before anyone could say or do anything, a room at the far end of the inn burst with an angry fury. The explosion set everything on fire as men began to race around franticly.

As he headed to the entrance of the inn, a young, petite woman raced down a flight of stairs, her bright yellow kimono slightly pulled up so as not to trip on it. Her long, slightly curled brown hair moved delicately as her head turned from side to side in confusion.

Trowa began cracking up inside at the sight before him.

"YOU BASTARD!" The 'young woman' yelled. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Without stopping to even question if he was alright, Trowa continued on his course out the door. Duo was literally at his heels and reaching out for the olive-green eyed man as he continued to curse and threaten his life. No one seemed to notice the pair racing past them. Well, to be honest, they didn't seem to care about the odd pair because three buildings were now on fire. The gunpowder in the room had done its job quite nicely.

The two stood at a distance watching the huge fire rage on. The fire had now consumed six houses and was quickly spreading. The sight was truly something amazing to behold as people franticly continued to run around trying to extinguish the blaze. The fire itself burned so intensely that the sky had lightened up in color.

Without warning, Duo sucker-punched Trowa. The slender man fell to the floor with one hand to his cheek. Before he could do anything, he felt Duo settle his entire weight on him. "YOU BASTARD!" he continued to punch the tall brunette in the back of the head.

With a swirl of fabric, Trowa managed to topple Duo off and pin him to the floor. "What are you complaining about?"

"That guy almost rapped me!" Duo yelled at the top of his lungs. "YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

"But you got the map we needed." Duo continued to struggle under Trowa's grip. "Anyways," Trowa continued, "you're the idiot for not noticing... considering you're the one who's interested about Japanese culture."

Duo lay still on the cold ground for a moment. "Notice? Notice what?"

"Even I know that the bow on a kimono is tied on the back."

Duo turned his head as far as he could. He stared at the slender man out of the corner of his eye as he continued to lie on the ground.

Trowa sighed deeply. "The bow tied off in the front, like you have it, means the woman is a whore."

Duo froze. Again, Trowa had made him look like a fool. Not like that was anything hard to do, but that's beside the point. The point is that... umm... I just lost my train of thought... Anyways, yes, Duo had once again fallen into Trowa's trap.

"Now then," Trowa took the map that Duo had stolen, "let's go find Mariemaia."

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A/N: Wow... I totally forgot about this completely. Goes to show you just how easily it is for me to forget things. Anyways, he's the latest chapter of this odd ball saga. I hopes you enjoy this read, and don't be shy telling me what you think of it


	6. Keeping Your Enemies Even Closer

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own GundamW..._**  
**_

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**_Chapter 6:_**_  
Keeping Your Enemies Even Closer_

Quatre sat idly in the middle of the room, looking out to his right at the beautiful garden through the wide open shoji doors. The early morning air was crisp, filling the large room with the wonderful sent of moist earth. He watched as a few ripples quickly spread across the top of the small pond located directly in front of him, in the middle of the garden. The koi had claimed another unfortunate insect for breakfast.

The young man rose from his place and slowly made his way to the delicate doors. He stood leaning against one of the frames, his eyes dancing from one end of the garden to the other. A cool wind blew across the enclosure causing Quatre to tug at his haori. It was made of the finest silk the land could offer. It's rich, deep purple color contrasted his pale skin and clear eyes fiercely. The hakama and gii he was wearing were also made of the most extravagant materials, second only to that of the Emperor.

"What are you thinking?" a small voice fluttered to his ears.

Quatre turned to the source of the familiar, and ever annoying growing voice of Mariemaia. Again, she was outfitted in many layers of new kimono, behind her two young ladies-in-waiting. Ever since their arrival at the Imperial Palace, she had never worn the same lavish kimono twice. Every day, almost as if by magic, the young girl was covered with layer upon layer of brand new cloths. In Quatre's mind, she looked more like an overstuffed animal then some form of high royalty or goddess. It was strange to him that anyone need more then two layers of clothing to show their status. But who was he to say anything? He had seen many, far stranger customs throughout his life. If this was the way these people lived then there was nothing he could do about it. At least he didn't look like that.

"You do realize that we do have to return to our time and place, don't you?" he questioned her switching to English. He didn't want the servants or anyone else who might be listening to this conversation to understand.

"You're such a bore," the young girl responded switching languages just as easily. "Besides, don't you find it much more appealing here? Here were we live like gods? Where we are gods to these people!"

"Not really."

"Quatre, Quatre, Quatre..." the young girl strolled up to him, "why would you want to go back home? You're a god here! You can have whatever you want! And best of all, you don't have to worry about bankruptcy, ending up in the poor house, or even doing some stupid charity to save your family name from disgrace for the rest of eternity!"

"Bankruptcy?" Quatre raised an eyebrow, "saving your family name? Aren't you a little too young to even be thinking of things like that?"

"I lost practically everything because of you and all the other Gundam pilots. Because of you my father is dead, you robbed me of my title as Ruler of both earth and colonies in A.C. 195 and then again during Christmas A.C. 196. I got shoot because Relena was acting so stupid. Lost my grandfather, my only family, and whose murderer never received any criminal sentence at all! Nearly died of blood loss, lost some function of my right lung, and have an unsightly scar over my right breast. By the way, thank you for such a wonderful holiday memory!" Mariemaia batted her eyes and smiled angelically at Quarter before frowning and looking out the door in disgust. "You have no idea how hard it's been not living the life you were raised in. So you should be glad that I'm even offering you anything now. You should be glad you're still alive!"

"Mariemaia, please just stop. I don't want to deal with this anymore!"

The young girl's features twisted and the tender smile that had been on her lips only moments earlier turned into a frown. Her eyes narrowed. "Leave us," she spoke to the ladies-in-waiting. The two ladies-in-waiting whom followed the young girl everywhere bowed as low as they could as they glided backwards from whence they came.

"Oh, great..." Quatre muttered under his breath looking out onto the pond again.

"You know what?" Mariemaia began.

Quatre could already hear the nagging in his head as he continued to ignore the small girl. He had argued with her in private nearly every day and was well aware of how the she wanted to remain in this land where she had absolute power over everything. What was it about world domination and absolute power that everyone was so fond of? Hadn't history taught people over the ages that in the end, no matter how powerful and how much one controlled, it would all eventually disappear once you died? Or someone else would yearn for that prize you worked so hard to obtain and eventually wage some sort of a stupid and lengthy war to take it away from you. Or you would get backstabbed by your own administrators, like in ancient Roman times. And there was always a slim chance that-

Quatre stopped thinking for a moment and looked down at the girl again. She hadn't been talking to him in her usual manner. Quite frankly, she hadn't even said a single word yet. A puzzled look crossed his face as her small eyes analyzed him.

"What?" he finally questioned.

"Ohh, nothing," she brought her heavily draped hand to her face as she turned to look at the garden.

Quatre's aqua eyes continued to study the girl.

"Well," she began, "there really is nothing we can do about it." She giggled.

"About..?"

"Well," she turned to look at him again. "For one thing, we have no idea how we got here... so, we have no idea on how to get back to 'our time and place.'" Quatre could feel his arms grow limp. She was right. "And if we can't get back to our time and place, then, there's no point in even trying, especially since we don't even know how we got here to begin with."

Silence fell upon the two on the veranda. Mariemaia's sly smile returned to her thin lips. Quatre was about to protest when the young girl began speaking again. "I'll make you a deal. If you can find a way back to our home and time, I'll gladly go. But until then, I guess I'll become the ruler of this place." Her smile widened as she turned to leave to her apartment in the palace.

Quatre watched silently as she disappeared behind a lavishly decorated shoji door at the end of the engawa. The two doors silently slid close, leaving the young Arab man alone in his apartment once more. A rippling sound coming from the pond caught his attention. He turned to watch a few koi fish fight for yet another bug on the surface of the water.

"Dammit!"

###

Mariemaia paced around her chamber. The decorations in her short red hair bouncing every time she jerked her head in the direction of the low table near the center of her room. On it lay an uncompleted map of the land. Her mind easily filled in the missing parts of the map as she recalled it from her geography class.

She strolled up to table and glance at the map once more. If she could move her forces to the east and invade the Kanto region of the small country and successfully conquer it, her name would go down in history! Not only that, but she would become the fist person in Japan's history to take control of what would later become the capitol of the nation. She could play a huge role in the development of the country! It was settled. As soon as her authority was even slightly greater then that of the Emperor, she would waste no time in disposing of him and declaring herself absolute ruler of the Japan. After all, she is the Goddess Mariemaia.

Mariemaia looked up as a faint knock drifted across the chamber.

"Mariemaia, I need to talk to you," Quatre's voice drifted in.

The young girl's features scrunched up as she made a face. What could he possibly want now? "Come in."

A stream of late afternoon sunlight poured into the room as Quatre entered. He quietly closed the door behind him and glanced over at the young girl before looking down. He hesitated as he made his way to the center of the room where Mariemaia stood overlooking the map. As he came to the side of the table he did something unexpected. He knelt down before the small girl and began speaking in an almost inaudible voice.

"I'm sorry Mariemaia." The words caught her off guard. "I want to go back home so badly that I overlooked the fact that we don't know how to get home. You are right. We might never find a way back to our home. I still don't believe that making ourselves rulers of this land will do us, or anyone else, any good. But, if we are to stay here our first priority is to find a means of living and a place to live. And that's what you did without knowing it. You gave us a home and a secure station in life, in a world were we would probably die in the blink of an eye. I'm sorry for being so rude and ungrateful." Quatre looked up, his light eyes locked onto the young girl. A sadden, almost desperate, expression crossed his face. "I don't agree with what you are doing, but I will protect you any way I can. I really am in your debt. Most importantly, I'm sorry for the way I've treated you recently." He lowered his head once more. "I'm sorry..." his voice trailed off.

Mariemaia stood stunned for a moment. Her mind buzzed still racing to take everything that was said to her. He was sorry. But, for what? Soon, she began to feel sorry for the young man kneeling before her. She had raised her voice at him many times within the last few weeks before others, belittling and publicly humiliating him. Yet, he could not say a single word about it. He had to obey her, remaining silent all the while. How much anger and pain could he be holding in? She felt a sinking feeling grow in her stomach. Worst of all she had constantly used him, making him abide to her every whim. Again, he had to obey her in every way. He had no say in the matter. He was, after all, a demi-god. And as she had put it before, her servant.

The young girl opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted before any word could leave her lips. "I really do owe you. You saved us both from death and for that I am grateful." With that, Quatre got up and made his way back to the door. He turned to look at the young girl before leaving. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me, Mariemaia. And truly, thank you."

With that he left the chamber, leaving Mariemaia with his thoughts. The small girl felt a ping of guilt wash over her. "I'm the one that should be sorry..." she said.

###

A smile curved Quatre's lips as he heard Mariemaia's soft words through the paper thin door. He pulled away from the shoji door as quietly as he could. He had accomplished what he had set out to do. He thanked God for blessing him with so many sisters.

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A/N: I'm really awful at trying to keep up with updating this. It seems like I can't promise to try and keep this up. Anywho, here's to all whom still read and actually enjoy this. ENJOY!


	7. Two Are Better Than One

**Disclaimer:** Don't own GundamW... that's all copyright of Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, Bandai, and others

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**_Chapter 7:_**_  
Two Are Better Than One_

Heero continued to walk silently as the warm afternoon began to change into evening. The sky was lit beautifully with hues of red, yellow, blue, and purple as the sun slowly began its decent behind the mountains. A slight breeze began to blow, cooling the young traveler. For once in his life, Heero felt relaxed and greatly at ease. It was indeed a beautiful sight that lay before him. Never during the few months that he had spent on earth had he actually stopped to gaze at a sunset. He was always way too preoccupied with fixing and upgrading his gundam to even notice that unlike the colonies, the earth's sunrises and sunsets were more than just the sun coming and going. They were a dazzling display of light put on by Mother Nature.

"Where are we going?" WuFei's voice brought Heero back.

Heero shrugged. His guess was as good as anyone else's. For the longest time they had been following all the credible leads they had heard about the Goddess Mariemaia. It seemed like every city and town in this country wanted to claim that the Goddess was or had at one point stayed with them. But as it turned out, all those rumors were just that, dead end rumors.

"We can't just keep walking around aimlessly you know."

Heero's temper was beginning to thin. "Do you have any better suggestions?"

WuFei glared at him menacingly. Another direct challenge. Why did Heero come off as being so pompous and arrogant? Was this really how he was or was it a front he put up to everyone? He could understand that the other youth was of few words, but those few words were always so hollow. WuFei had been accused of being arrogant with his few words, but at the bare minimum his words were filled with life and passion.

WuFei halted and quickly glanced around. They had been to almost all the towns and villages in this mountain area, crisscrossing the mountain peaks back and forth many times now. And now they seemed to be heading back to a previously visited village. "We really a plan," he informed.

Heero stopped a few steps ahead of his companion visible upset. He glared back with those piercing dark blue eyes. No words needed to be exchanged between the two in order to understand each other. This was one of the few beauties of life that existed between the pair. They could practically carry out full conversations by just looking at one another, an ability that the other pilots could never come close to comprehending.

WuFei scowled viciously and was the first to break the silence. "I've been following you aimlessly for the past few days now and gotten nowhere!"

"No one asked you to," Heero responded coldly.

"What is your problem?" WuFei reputed as he finally lost his cool. "I've been saying we should head to the capitol of this place! Or at least the closest castle-town that houses this place's warlord in order to find Mariemaia!"

"I've been trying!" Heero snapped back.

"You've been leading us in circles!" WuFei outstretched his arms and gestured to the whole of their surroundings. "We were in that village," he pointed to the valley down below, "just the other day! And we were at that one we seem to be heading for about a week ago! We're going around in circles!"

Heero looked around and bit down on his bottom lip. "Why didn't you say something?"

"About?" WuFei was growing impatient.

"That we've already visited that place?" Heero pointed to the village he had been heading for all day long.

WuFei was dumbstruck at the question. But gazing into his comrade's eyes he could see that the other young man was dead serious about the question. "I though that's where you wanted to go," he responded.

"Not if we've already been there!"

"Then why the hell are we heading back there!" WuFei felt like tearing his hair out in frustration.

Heero's eyes left WuFei's as he looked back down at the village a fair way's off. Again, he bit down on his bottom lip and looked to be lost in thought. He seemed to be examining his surroundings.

"You're lost, aren't you?" WuFei finally realized.

It took a moment, but Heero finally nodded. "I didn't realize we were heading back somewhere we were already at…" he half whispered. It was no wonder these places were starting to look a bit familiar. If he remembered correctly, they had approached the village they were heading for from the opposite direction, which means that they had backtracked on their journey.

"How can you be lost?" WuFei was at a loss for words. "We've traveled the world and the colonies with the deadliest accuracies! Hell, we all descended to earth in the most suicidal way and hit our targets on our very first missions!"

Heero remained silent. That was very true for the others and it would have been the same for him had he not run into an OZ carrier on his decent. But that wasn't the point that WuFei was getting at. It was true, they had all eventually traveled the whole world over in those few months that they had been on earth and none of them had ever gotten lost. He glanced over at WuFei and pouted, muttering something under his breathe.

"What?" WuFei tilted his head a little.

"I don't really have a sense of direction…" Heero repeated himself, this time loud enough for his friend to hear him. A slight blush colored his cheeks.

WuFei's head tilted even more. "How can that be?" he questioned in disbelief. "It's much easier to get lost in space and you've never gotten lost before!"

It took a moment and much hesitation on his behalf, but Heero finally answered. "I always relied on GPS systems to get around."

The answer was so simple and honest that WuFei was nearly floored by it. Was Heero really telling him the truth? He had to be. He practically looked like a lost child at the moment. The perfect soldier seemed to have a huge flaw that no one ever noticed.

Heero narrowed his eyes at his traveling companion. "Colonies don't have compass points," he began, the red in his cheeks had extended to his ears as well. "There is no North or South or East or West up there! And every time I was on earth I relied heavily on my GPS."

WuFei tried hard not to laugh. This simple notion of Heero relying so much on gadgets to orient him didn't suit the image of the perfect soldier that everyone had come to know. He watched as Heero turned on his heels and was about to march off angrily. "The castle-town is that way," WuFei stopped him and gestured in the opposite direction, to the other side of the valley.

Heero looked back at the Chinese man and then across the valley. He nodded softly and began down the road leading into the valley below.

WuFei chuckled to himself as he caught up to the ex-pilot. "I won't tell anyone," he reassured.

"Thank you," Heero responded sheepishly. He was much more embarrassed then WuFei could possibly ever imagine. Plugging coordinates into computers and letting the machines do all the work had left him utterly useless in this current situation. He was completely ashamed of himself. Even so, WuFei didn't seem to mind and offered to teach him what he knew about compass directions. Heero modestly accepted.

And so the two began their trip once more with a much clearer destination set before them. This small exchange had strengthened their friendship and understanding of one another.

* * *

A/N: heehheheee... Just like Heero, I'm starting to feel ashamed that I'm so bad about updating. I'll keep trying.

On a side note, I fixed grammar and sentence structure to previous chapters (if anyone even cares to reread them... or maybe you will because you can't remember what I've written so long ago). Also fixed up the other short GundamW stories that I have. Now, to continue to pound out the details of this nonsensical story.


	8. The Sun and the Moon

**Disclaimer: **don't own GundamW characters or anything other then this fanfic.**  
**

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**_Chapter 8:_**_  
The Sun and the Moon_

Mariemaia giggled as she clasped onto Quatre's hand and began to lead him down the hallway. For the first time since getting to know the young girl, Quatre could honestly say that she was acting like the small, innocent child that she is. He paused his mind for a moment. No, she wasn't innocent, she just looked it. Even at her young age she was sly, calculating, and on occasions manipulative. He shrugged these thoughts out of his mind as he watched a smile fan from one end of her thin lips to the other. On other occasions she could be the sweet, innocent child that people believed her to be. Today seemed to be one of those days. It kind of made him feel happy for once to see her like this.

"Where are you taking me?" he questioned.

Mariemaia only turned her head slightly to look at him with her brilliant smile. "You'll see!"

Quatre didn't know whether to be glad or be terrified for his life. For the last few days the young girl had been nice to him. Sure his guilt trip was probably what triggered her cheery disposition and recent acts of kindness, but there was still this lingering suspicion at the back of his mind that made him not want to trust her.

"Cover your eyes!" Mariemaia exclaimed in a shrill little voice.

Quatre pulled his hand out of hers and looked down at the young girl suspiciously. There was nothing in this world that was going to make him shut his eyes when she was leading him anywhere.

The young girl looked up at him surprise. A hurt look in her crystalline eyes as her tiny smile turned into a frown. "Please Quatre!" she reached for his hand again.

The young Arab man studied the little girl for a moment as her tiny figures wrapped around his much larger hand. She tugged at him, pleading. "Oh, please, Quatre! Just for a moment! I promise it's nothing bad!" Quatre hesitated. The young girl took a step back, straightening herself up and placing her right hand over her heart she began, "I swear to you on my name, as a Krushrenada, that I will not do anything awful to you at all."

Quatre continued to procrastinate. If she was anything like her father, then she would be true to her word no matter what the situation. But the simple fact was that she had been raised by her grandfather, thus having no association with her father in the whole of her short life. The young man thought back to a few months prior when he had last seen Preventer's Director Lady Une. She had been in charge of caring for the small girl since her grandfather's death. Miss Une had praised the small girl and even gone as far as suggesting that Mariemaia was the spitting image of her father, regardless of the fact that they had never once meet.

The thought was reassuring enough. Slowly he stretched his hand out to her again as he closed and covered his eyes with his other hand. He felt her tiny fingers wrap around his hand and then a tug as the little girl continued to lead him down the long hallway of the palace. He heard a pair of doors slide open and then shut behind him. Finally, Mariemaia came to a stop and released his hand.

"You may look now!" she exclaimed happily.

Quatre brought his hand down and opened his soft eyes. Before him lay an array of what looked to be luggage and chests. He gazed down at them, scanning them briefly before his attention was caught by a piece of paper resting on one of the chests. He looked over at the young girl. She simply smiled at him warmly and urged him forward.

Quatre reached down and unfolded the parchment, scanning its contents. "What does all this mean?" he questioned rather confused.

Mariemaia joyfully came around and took the paper from him. "It's a map."

"I can see that."

"Here," she pointed at the map.

Quatre studied the location she pointed at. "What about it?"

"We're taking a road trip!" Mariemaia's smile widened.

###

Quatre shifted a bit uncomfortable in the carriage. As comfortable as it had first appeared, he now found his gilded cage to be annoying. The pair of gods had been traveling for days now over a vast span of land. He himself did not know where they were heading, but trusted the small girl, as scary as the thought was to his sane self. The carriage had been built especially for the two god's traveling pleasure. At first glance it had looked like a wagon with a beautiful, high canopy top and heavy curtains draping over the sides. The inside was lavishly furnished with fine pillows and cushions of silk for their comfort. All in all, the procession of servants and armed warriors reminded the young man of old Arab illustrations of royal caravans crossing the dessert.

"Hey, Mariemaia," the blonde man turned his attention to the fiery haired girl who sat across from him. "Don't you find it rather odd that these people still think that we're gods? All we did was just show up." He paused for a moment watching the scenery pass them by. "We haven't done anything godly."

The small girl giggled. "You haven't figured it out?" she brought her hands up to her thin lips. The blonde shook his head. "You can be quite the interesting person, Quatre." Scooting in closer to the older youth she produced a scroll from beneath the cascade of fabric that enveloped her small body.

Quatre eyed the item briefly before taking it in his hands and rolling it out. It was an exquisite painting in a style that the young Arab was not familiar with. His aqua eyes moved over the parchment slowly, absorbing every detail he could. "It's beautiful," he whispered in astonishment.

"They are two very important gods of this land," Mariemaia explained. "The Sun Goddess Amaterasu- Ōmikami and her brother Tsukuyomi no Mikoto, the Moon God. They lived together in harmony in the heavens until Tsukuyomi killed the Goddess Uke Mochi for making food in a disgusting manner. This caused Amaterasu to become very angry with him and thus, she never faced to look at her brother again. This is why the sun and moon are such polar opposites when they occupy the heavens."

Quatre had been listening attentively. "How strange," he commented. "The Moon is always associated with women while the Sun is always male in every culture that I can think of. This country seems to think of it the other way around. But that still didn't answer my question."

Mariemaia's smile widened. "I have convinced the young Lord that we are Amaterasu- Ōmikami and Tsukuyomi no Mikoto. We have descended from the heavens on our father's behalf to make sure that his lands are being well inherited by man. It took a while, but he eventually believed me. The fact that you are always awake late into the night helped very much." Her bubbly eyes gleamed up at him.

Quatre eyed the girl over. Ever since arriving in this country and being recognized as a god, he had spent many a night looking up at the starry sky quietly. He simply missed his home and felt that if he looked up at the night sky he might just catch a glimpse of a colony crossing the heavens. It never occurred to him that he might have been doing something that the small girl would misconstrue.

"I've also made sure that both you and I look our parts of those two gods," the young girl continued. "Your milky skin and hair are like the moon and your eyes are the color of the bright ring around the full moon. Most importantly, you are always wrapped in the night sky," she gestured to his outfit. The blond looked down at himself. He was wearing a fine, midnight blue kimono with a beautiful, deep, rich purple haori. It was clear to see now that he was indeed the personification of what one might imagine the Moon to look like.

The young man returned his attention to the girl sitting before him. She was dressed in bight, warm, sunny colors as usual. The bright yellows, oranges, and reds made her eyes leap from her ivory skin, resembling the clear, midday sky while her fiery red hair was just that, the color of the burning sun. It didn't take much to make the leap from small girl to Sun Goddess.

Yes, Quatre continued thinking to himself, this girl is deftly calculating and quite manipulative. He would have to keep his wits about her and make sure to remain on her good side.

The carriage shook violently, startling the two occupants.

"We have arrived in the capitol in the land of Kinai," the lead guard riding next to them announced before either of the gods could peek out at their surroundings.

Mariemaia's porcelain face lit up with excitement. She had always wanted to see the great castles of the Kansai region first hand. Now, she would be the inhabitant of one of these beautiful palaces. She inched herself closer to the one of the curtains of the carriage and pulled it back a bit. The excitement in her movements where not lost on her traveling companion as he too peered out.

###

Mariemaia's dazzling smile quickly turned to a frown as she looked up at the castle that her caravan was marching towards. Quatre's face peered down at the small girl as a half-smile lined his lips. He seemed to be trying to console the small girl before the two disappeared behind the curtain once more.

"Wow," Duo whistled. "They seem to be doing well, don't 'cha think?" he turned to his fellow olive eyed comrade.

Trowa simply continued to eye the caravan as it paraded down the boulevard from a distance. His eyes narrowed as he continued to study the line of servants and small army which proceeded toward their destination. If Quatre was with the small girl, then why wasn't he keeping her in check? Why was he allowing her to do as she wished? Why was he allowing her to build another army and try to conquer this land?

"What are you thinking?" Duo almost slurred the entire sentence together. He watched his friend's expression carefully, looking for any indication as to what was going on behind those emerald eyes. But that stoic face revealed nothing.

"I think we need to give those two a visit," Trowa finally answered.

* * *

A/N: Yes, this is actually a part of the original outline from when I started the story back in like 2007. Both Amaterasu- Ōmikami and Tsukiyomi no Mikoto are 2 of the 3 "Honored Siblings" in Shinto and Japanese mythology. I've never been able to find too much detailed information regarding the two gods (or any of the other Japanese gods), and thus am aiming to keeping any information on these gods on the light side.

As far as the land of Kinki goes, I've looked up what ancient names the Kansai region used to go by and came up with Kansai, Kinki, and Kinai. Apparently all three have been used interchangeably over history. I decided to use Kinki simply because that is the name of the plain where the present day cities of Kyoto and Osaka are.

Anywho, I hope you continue to enjoy.


	9. The BreakIn

_**Disclaimer:** _Life is grand, but I don't own GundamW or any of the characters_  
_

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_**Chapter 9:**  
The Break-In_

Trowa stood in awe at the castle before him. The strange structure of the building was mesmerizing and new to him. Its white exterior was strikingly contrasted by its blue tiled roof and complemented by its geometric features. It was a very simple an elegant building. And like traditional European castles he was accustomed to, it was surrounded by a sizable moat, interrupted by regular intervolves with highly decorated bridges crafted of wood and stone. Still the structure was refreshing to his western-style eyes.

The building also presented an interesting dilemma. The only way in was through the heavily guarded gates at the end of each bridge. The moat itself was at least thirteen meters wide at its narrowest point. And most difficult of all was the outer wall of the castle which was build continuously out of the moat leaving no edges to grip on to. The wall extended about fifteen feet above the stone foundation of the moat, ending with the slanted tiled roof protruding outward over the water.

Trowa sat at a distance on the man-made edge of the river which feed into the moat for the remainder of the afternoon, his feet dangling over the edge with a makeshift fishing rod in his hands and a basket to his side. He occasionally glanced over to the gate visible to his right when he noticed any activity. He watched attentively as people came and went through the gates of the palace, taking note of what circumstances they were allowed into the establishment. He took extra notice at the time the guards switched. Regardless of information he was gaining, he doubted that he could ever make it in through those gates.

The young man's attention shifted to an approaching figure. Duo waltzed up to his friend in such a care free manner that Trowa wondered whether the other man ever took anything completely seriously. His mind went back to a conversation he had had with Heero years ago while they had still been gundam pilots.

"_Duo might appear distracted, but don't let that smile fool you for a minute," Heero had warned. "He is constantly alert and his mind is sharp. I guess it's a result of having to live on his toes his whole life. He's much more dangerous than either of us."_

Trowa watched silently as Duo squatted down right next to him. The braided man looked rather displeased. "It's the same thing the whole way around," he informed tossing his rope of hair back over his shoulder. "The closest thing to an easy entry is this building that's at the edge of the moat, I think it's some sort of warehouse. The closet gateway from there is about ten to fifteen feet to the left."

Trowa pulled out his fishing line and glanced at the other end. Nothing. He never expected to actually catch anything and he hadn't. He raised his eyes up to the clear sky and brought his hand over them to shield them from the intense sunlight. Collecting accurate information in the middle ages really was a challenge. It's no wonder this was a lifelong career.

"It's a good thing this place isn't a real castle yet," Duo grinned looking down at the river below. "We'd really have a tough time if it was."

Trowa glanced over at the deep blue eyes beside him. The questioning look in his green eyes was clearly understood by the other. "This doesn't look like any of the castles that I've seen from our time. They're way bigger than this! This," Duo gestured toward the fortification standing before them, "is probably less than half of what they'll eventually become."

Trowa nodded in understanding. Heero's assessment about the self-proclaimed Shinigami was on the mark, Duo's façade was very deceiving. Deep down inside he was truly happy that the other youth was with him. He certainly would be lost without the other. But that was not to say that he would ever voice that opinion. Lord forbid he would ever vocalize that sentiment. Duo was always looking for attention and if he received it chances where he wouldn't leave you alone for a good while.

Trowa handed the fishing rod to Duo and stood up from his place. He took the empty basket in his right hand as he dusted himself off. "Alright," he began to formulate their next move. "We'll have to scout out that building you mentioned and figure out a way in. But first, we need a good dinner and a place to rest up for tonight."

"ALRIGHT!" Duo shot himself up to his feet, a wide smile on his face. If there was anything that Trowa had learned about his companion over the years it was simply to not get between him and food. Duo literally could eat someone out of house and home if given a chance. "I saw this little shop on-"

Duo's sentence was cut short. The taller brunette turned in time to witness the spectacle that followed. He wasn't sure how, but the fishing line had somehow gotten tangled up around the braided man's feet. He flailed his arms around, wide eyed, stumbling backwards. He quickly reached the edge of the river and for a split second seemed to have regained his balance. But the pleading look in his stormy eyes and the way he desperately reached out to Trowa said otherwise. Gravity quickly took over and the young man fell into the river backwards.

Trowa stood in shook motionless. He waited for what seemed an eternity before Duo finally burst through the water's surface for air.

"WHAAA!" Duo exclaimed gasping. He bobbed in the water for a moment looking up at the spectators he had attracted. His blue eyes darted from person to person as a crimson color flushed his face. He laughed nervously as he made his way to a set of stairs which lead from the ground above to the water.

Trowa sighed bringing a hand up to his face.

"_He's much more dangerous than either of us."_

Heero must have been under the influence of something when he made that comment all those years ago.

###

Trowa watched silently as Duo's slim fingers skillfully knotted the makeshift anchor at the end of the rope. "Where did you learn to tie that?" he asked absentmindedly.

"One of the kids from the gang. Her father was a mariner here on earth before he died. Don't know why they were in the colony, but Solo and Eliwood found her crying in an alley by herself and brought her back," Duo explained without looking up. "She taught us a few basic knots. Afterwards, when I was with Howard on the Pacific, his crew taught me some more. There!"

Trowa's green eyes flickered in the dim moonlight. The knot was impressive, secure, and massive, formidable in his mind to the Gordian Knot. The brunette took the rope and the two young men turned their attention to the building on the other side of the moat. As luck would have it, there appeared to be a tree growing just inside the wall on the other side.

Trowa measured out about an arm's length from the anchor before swinging it in a circular fashion. The centrifugal force helped propel the heavy object effortlessly across the moat and got caught within the branches of the tree. The two boys tugged as hard as they could on the rope, making sure that it was indeed secure on the other end. Trowa wrapped a portion of the cord around a plank that was sticking out a few inches from the top of the building they were standing on before handing it to his partner. Without a word, Duo jumped down to the ground below and tied the end of the rope around his waist. He leaned his body away from the building and held the rope with both hands.

"All good," he chimed up at the circus performer.

Trowa nodded. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind before making his way to the edge of the building. He warily placed a foot on the tightly wound rope and was pleased to see that it would definitely hold his weight, but most importantly, it didn't falter under his step. He took two more cautious steps out and glanced down at his comrade. Duo had placed a foot on the wall in front of him in order to obtain a bit more leverage, his arms tight as he made a face. Trowa proceeded to cross the wire swiftly, before his friend's arms gave way.

Duo released his grip when he felt the tension in the rope disappear. He quickly unwrapped the cord from his waist and watched as Trowa pulled the rope to his side. The two signaled each other before the performer vanished behind the white wall. Duo silently made his way to the small bridge and waited in the shadows. He didn't have to wait too long as Trowa quickly subdued both guards at the gate's entrance. The braided youth dashed across the bridge and the two disappeared beyond the walls of the palace.

"Now what?" Duo asked breathlessly.

"We find Quatre and Mariemaia."

"And how do we do that?"

Trowa shrugged. "It's not like I have a layout of this place. Where do you think they'd be staying?"

Duo sighed at the revelation but didn't say anything. His eyes darted around in the darkness as his mind raced. "Probably the center of this place," he guessed. "Or someplace that has a garden or pond or something really nice right in front of it. That should be where the main chambers for someone important should be. At least, that's my best guess."

Trowa hesitated for a moment. His evergreen eyes locked onto his friend. He didn't want to split up. He couldn't begin to imagine what the layout of a place like this could possibly be. Before he could voice his concerns about getting lost, Duo grabbed his arm and the two were racing down a series of long corridors. Trowa's eyes danced from one section of the building to the next. Everything was so pristine and orderly. Perfect dark, wooden lines formed a variety of different sized squares, all made with varying materials along the length of the hallways at regular intervolves. He wasn't quite sure why the walls of these corridors had to be so geometric and lavishly decorated, but he liked it. It was elegant.

"侵入者があります!" Duo yelled at the top of his lungs.

Trowa's attention was brought back to the situation at hand. In an instant he felt as Duo took hold of him with both hands and swung him ahead. The slender man lurched forward surprised, but before he could react he felt Duo's hands bury themselves into his back, propelling him quite forcefully forward. He stumbled off the edge of the elevated walkway, falling into a small gardened area with a loud thud. His hands stung sharply as he landed.

"侵入!" a voice seemed to echo Duo's ahead of him.

Trowa lifted his head towards to the source of the voice only to be greeted by two men quickly making their way towards him, weapons drawn. His green eyes widened as he hastily got to his feet. He turned to Duo for assistance, but the braided man was nowhere to be seen. "Crap!" he let the curse escape his lips as he fumbled onto the walkway again, his foot caught a corner of his kimono.

He struggled for a heartbeat as his mind raced to remember the way back to the gate and bridge. If he could make it out to the city, he'd be safe. But everything looked exactly the same, he had the feeling that in his disorientation he had run around in a circle at least once. He frowned realizing he was lost. An alarm of some sort wailed not too far to his right as the heavy feet continued close behind. He heard something swoosh behind him and picked up his pace. He had heard that sound a few times before as WuFei had practiced some martial art stances with his sword.

"彼を得る!" a guard appeared ahead of him.

Trowa narrowly avoided the sword slash before launching himself at the man, driving his fist into the man's midsection and toppling him backwards. The fallen man managed to take hold of the hem of his kimono and the slender youth fumbled into a room, breaking through what he had believed was a solid wall. A woman shrieked as Trowa's heel connected hard to the guard's face. The man released his grip on the kimono and Trowa quickly got to his feet as four more guards caught up to him. They stood in the hallway beyond the broken wall, poised and ready to take him down with a single strike.

He turned to the woman in the corner of the room, she held her hands up to her face in horror. The wall beside her slid open and another woman peered in. His jade eyes lit up in realization. Those weren't decorative walls lining the corridors at all, they were doors. He quickly rushed pass the women, shoving her straight into her pursuers' path. Not a noble action he observed, but it was enough to buy him a few more seconds of life while increasing the distance between him and the guards.

The adrenaline pumped through his veins and his heart pounded in his ears as he continued lost within the complex. He eventually found his way out of the maze of buildings and got to a gate. He raced over the bridge at top speed after having burst through the heavy gate doors, a small army of men on his heels. The brunette proceeded to lose the men in the dark of the night and decided it would be best to slip out of the city. He slithered through the shadows, creeping one block at a time towards the outskirts of town. Not an easy task seeing as night patrols around the city had been alerted and on the lookout for him.

"I'll kill him!" he huffed venomously as he found a secluded spot along the river a fair distance from the city. "I'll wring his neck with his own braid!" he continued to vent out his anger, green eyes flashing in the dark.

He sat quietly for a moment catching his breath, the only other sound was that of the river beside him bubbling. His mind furiously went over the events that had just transpired, examining every last detail. He was positive now that Duo had literally tossed him to the wolves and then disappeared. What in the world was that idiot thinking? He could have simply just asked him to act as a decoy. A head's up wouldn't have pissed him off as much as he was right now. Even if he had been used as a decoy, he hoped and prayed that the braided one would get caught and be in need of being rescued. That would teach him a lesson.

Trowa would stay in that spot for the remainder of the night. He'd have plenty of time tomorrow to make Duo pay for what he had done, that's if the fool made it out of the palace in one piece.

* * *

A/N: So I'm not really literate in Japanese, if any of this is wrong, please do tell me! I decided to leave the translations to the end of the chapter simply because I wanted everyone to be as confused as Trowa.

"侵入者があります (there's an intruder)!" Duo yelled at the top of his lungs.

"侵入 (intruder)!" a voice seemed to echo Duo's ahead of him.

"彼を得る (Get him)!" a guard appeared ahead of him.

Also, Marry Christmas to all of you! Enjoy the holidays and have an awesome New Year!


	10. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

**Disclaimer:** Don't own GundamW or it's characters.

* * *

_**Chapter 10:**  
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back_

Heero glared at a banner outside a shop of sorts. He felt that his stormy blue eyes would have eventually burned a hole through the cloth banner if he had stared at it long enough. But the strokes on the fabric never formulated into anything legible, they were just scribbles as far as his brain could tell.

"What is it?" WuFei looked over at him.

"Nothing."

"Something division..?" WuFei read the sign over. "What does it say?" he nudged his traveling companion.

"No clue." Heero shrugged. "I thought you were able to read that."

"I know the characters, but they don't make sense together like that," he continued thoughtfully. "Besides, it's your language."

Heero stiffened bit. "I can't read that," he informed. Before WuFei had a chance to say anything he continued, "to be honest, I can't read any of it. It's all a bunch of squiggly lines, as Duo would say."

"But you are Japanese, right?" WuFei began a bit confused. "You can speak it. You've done it quite often, getting us food and information."

Heero sighed. "Yes, I am Japanese," he began, "at least partially, as far as I've ever been able to tell. But that doesn't mean that I can read the language." He brought his thumb up to his lips and began to nibble on the nail as he thought his next statement through. "I didn't grow up the way you did, with someone who would teach me my heritage. I was raised by a man named Odin Lowe, he was a for-hire hit man. He taught me English, Russian, and some Slavic. After he passed away, when I was with Doctor J, one of his assistants spoke in Japanese and I realized that I understood most of what he was saying. So I just figured it was something that I must have learned before my time with Odin."

WuFei smiled a bit. The ex-gunadm pilots had known each other for nearly five years now, but as it turned out, they didn't seem to know much about one another. WuFei mused over this thought for a while. He actually didn't know anything about his fellow pilots. This was certainly the first that he had heard anything about Heero's past. "It must be tough not knowing where you come from," he blurted out without realizing. He instantly covered his mouth, wide eyed as he turned and meet Heero's surprised glance. "I'm sorry," he began.

"Hnn…" was Heero's only reply. He thought for a bit, reaching back as far back as he could recall. "I vaguely remember having a mother and father. At least I think that's what they were. Neither of their faces are clear to me, they never have been. I remember asking where we were and she told me to not worry. Then something happened. Everyone was panicked and there were gunshots coming from all directions. I know my father was shot, and I got separated from my mother. In the confusion, I got picked up by Odin. Afterwards, I remember he tried to get me back to her, but we never found her. I don't know what happened to her. I'm not even sure what colony that all happened on. So, you are right. I really don't know where I come from or who I am. What about you?" Heero turned the tables on his companion.

WuFei's eyes softened. "My father was a stern, no-nonsense kind of a man, but he knew how to relax and he loved my sister and I. My mother was very patient and understanding." He paused for a moment looking up at the clear sky, homesickness beginning to set in. "Our clan was exiled from our homeland here on earth and settled in the colonies. Something about being too influential, I never cared much to understand that part of my history. When I was about nine, my parents come down to earth and were arrested. Mater Long tried to get them safe passage back home, but he was unable to. I never saw them again."

"What happened to your sister?" Heero's voice was soft.

WuFei's features twisted a little. "She died along with the majority of my clan when my home colony was destroyed during the last part of the Colonial War."

"I'm sorry," Heero started, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright," WuFei stopped him.

The two continued in a bit of silence reflecting on each other's story. WuFei felt rather relieved that he had been able to speak of his past without tearing up anymore. A ghost of a smile curved his lips. "So what do we do now?" he asked changing the subject. "I am sure that we're in the right place this time."

"We find '_Goddess Amaterasu_'," Heero put the goddess's name in air quotes, "and this Tsukuyomi she's with. Then we have to find the others and figure out how to get back home."

WuFei stopped in his place. "Back home? Can we even do that?"

Heero paused to look back at the dark haired man. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it without uttering a single word. Ever since arriving, his top priority had been to find his fellow comrades. The thought of how they were getting back home had never crossed his mind. "How _do_ we get back home?" he finally voiced.

WuFei shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

The two stood silently eyeing one another, not knowing what to say or do about the situation. A sobbing sound caught their attention and both men looked down towards the river running alongside the street. There on the walled off edge of the river sat a man garbed in dark green looking down into the river with a single hand up to his face. He was trying desperately to keep the sobbing to himself.

"Trowa?" WuFei moved forward.

The man turned. Indeed it was Trowa. His puffy reddened eyes brightened for an instant at the sight of his fellow pilots. In a heartbeat, his features twisted again and he returned his gaze down at the river well below his feet, stifling another sob as he brought his other hand up to his face.

The two Asian pilots exchanged surprised looks. They had watched Quatre cry a number of times during the war and had heard about Duo sobbing behind closed doors once, but they had never expected in their wildest dreams to see the pilot of the HeavyArms in such an emotional state as this.

"What's wrong?" WuFei swept down to his friend's level, placing a hand on his broad shoulders. The lanky man simply shook his head, tears streaming down his face.

"Trowa," Heero's voice was steady and full of concern. "What happened?"

"Duo is dead…" Trowa's voice hitched at the back of his throat.

"What..?" WuFei's eyes widened, his voice barely audible. "What did you just say?"

Trowa took in a deep breath, composing himself the best he could. He brushed his redden nose with the back of his hand before looking up at WuFei, his deep green eyes full of sorrow. "He was ex… executed," he stammered. "We broke into the… the castle a… a few days ago… The idiot went off on his own and… and… and got himself kill!" He dropped his face into his hands.

"Are you sure?" Heero couldn't believe what he was being told.

The brunette nodded solemnly. He slowly got to his feet and gestured for his friends to follow. They wordlessly obliged, flanking both sides of the tall man. Trowa lead them to what appeared to be some sort of execution grounds, boxed off by a low gate. A row of heads were clearly visible from behind another fenced off area, each placed into its own individual box, a bulletin board right next to them. The slender man slowly brought up his hand and pointed to one of the heads on display.

WuFei's eyes shot wide as he brought his hand up to his lips, mouthing something in his native tongue.

Heero's eyes peeled wide as well. His deep blue irises dancing across the severed head's features in disbelief, his hands shaking as his fists clenched. He could feel his stomach turning in disgust as his breathe became shallow. He grabbed WuFei's arm and clutched onto Trowa's sleeve, directing them both away from the scene as his eyes burned with tears.

"I couldn't help…" Trowa's voice was small.

Heero shook his head viciously. He couldn't say anything. He could already feel that his voice would fail him if he even attempted to speak. Years ago, none of them would have cared had one of the others died. They had been strangers fighting for the same thing, nothing more. Each pilot would have continued their lives without a second thought. But now, years later, even if they still acted cold towards one another it was quite obvious that they cared for each other. In a strange way, they regarded each other like brothers… the kind that you would beat up for no damn reason other than you can. The tears in his eyes finally began to stream down his face. He released his grip on WuFei and wiped them away. "Idiot!" was the only thing he was able to hiss through his clenched jaw.

The three young men found themselves a place to rest while they collected themselves from the shock of the day. They mourned over their fallen comrade before formulating a plan to break into the execution grounds to take their friend's head and give it a proper burial.

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A/N: This chapter was more of a filler (sorry about that). It's a stepping stone to set things up for the remainder of the story and hopefully to get the story moving a bit faster from here on out. Hope it's still enjoyable.


	11. A Stormy God

_**Disclaimer:**_

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_**Chapter 11:**  
A Stormy God_

Trowa, Heero, and WuFei stood in awe at the sight that lay before them. The army gathering in the valley below was immense, and from what they had gathered, growing exponentially by the day. This new army to the south of the city which housed the Goddess Amaterasu and her brother Tsukuyomi was indeed impressive and quite formidable. If anyone was going to stop Mariemaia's expansion, it was certainly going to be this new army leader.

But the leader, as the young men had quickly discovered was another god. Susano-o no Mikoto, the third of the honorable siblings was the fearsome God of Storms. A frightening and formidable foe who didn't know his own strength, Susano-o had inadvertently caused more trouble than he had ever intended. Thus he had been exiled from Heaven and given the earth as his realm to rule. From what the trio had gathered, Susano-o had appeared because he was displeased with Amaterasu's presence on earth and her insatiable appetite for conquering land. Land that was by all rights his, seeing as he had been cast down from heavenly paradise so long ago.

"So how are we going to do this?" WuFei couldn't take his eyes off the massive crowd in the valley.

"Same as before," Heero replied.

The two remained silent. For the last three months the two of them had been gathering every scrap of information that they could about the Goddess Amaterasu. Well, to be fair, Heero had been the one collecting the majority of the information, updating his friends on every last bit of information he had learned. He had also taken it upon himself to teach the other two his native tongue, but as it turned out, only WuFei appeared to pick the language up. The Chinese man's ability to absorb new information was astounding. WuFei's Japanese was still jarring to listen to, but at least he was beginning to understanding what was being said.

"What do I do?" Trowa had remained silent up until now.

"You can't come with us," WuFei was quick to inform.

Trowa narrowed his eyes at the dark haired man.

WuFei simply huffed dismissingly. "You stand out like a sore thumb," he began in a belittling manner. "You're well over six feet tall, your face is too sharp and angular, you have green eyes, and you can't speak a word of Japanese. You are useless to us and would be nothing but a hindrance if you come."

"A little harsh," Heero bit back.

"Not at all. It's a miracle that no one has tried to slay him for being a demon or something along those lines."

Heero turned to face the somber brunette. He couldn't repute WuFei's logic. Trowa towered well above both of them and pretty much everyone they had ever known. Back home, he was an inch or two shy of touching the top of door frames, here, he was forced to stoop down in order to avoid hitting his forehead on them (which he had done several times already). Aside from sticking out way too much, Trowa had really been rather useless these last few months. The only thing he had been doing for the group was staying behind at an abandoned home they were using as their base of operations and cooking.

Trowa looked to be rather hurt by WuFei's words, but seemed to get over his feelings easily and simply nodded in acknowledgement. There was no point in arguing, especially when he knew it all to be truth to some degree. "I'll secure a place for us," he turned to head back up the road they had traveled. "I remember seeing building not too far back. We can meet there tonight."

"It was an abandoned shrine," WuFei informed. "If no one shows up for the remainder of the day, we can even sleep there." His dark eyes locked onto Trowa's as a smirk crossed his features. "Don't get slain by a hero, ogre."

"Bit me."

##

The trio couldn't believe that they had been apprehended so quickly. Trowa and Heero had been trained since early childhood to be stealthy. Both had been described by OZ and Alliance soldiers as shadows that came and went at their leisure. After the wars, both had disappeared. Trowa could be traced by following the circus he traveled with, but had he wanted to, he could have easily disappeared among the billions of people that populate the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. Heero, on the other hand, truly did disappear after both wars. No one could ever track him down no matter how hard one tried. He showed up every now and then when he pleased, but that had always been for short periods of time. Being shadows and falling off the grid was what they did best. Yet here they were, a few minutes into their mission and so easily caught by the enemy.

A cynical smile curved Heero's lips. They had been barred access to the young Sun Goddess and Moon God for months. Shortly after meeting up with Trowa, he had joined the Goddess's Devine Army in order to get to Mariemaia, but was unable to. Only top ranking officers and generals were allowed an audience with the two gods, and he clearly had many years to go before being counted as one of the few blessed with such an honor. And yet, here he was, a few minutes into infiltration this new army, getting caught, and being taken straight to the Storm God himself.

He glanced over at Trowa as he was being ushered forward forcefully. He wondered how long the army scouts had known that they had been observing them from a far. They must have noticed almost immediately if they had already captured the tall man who had been heading in the opposite direction of this army.

"Where are they taking us?" WuFei questioned glancing over at Heero. There were so many voices speaking at once that he simply couldn't understand anything that was being said.

"Susano-o no Mikoto," Heero replied dryly. He didn't bother to inform the other two that the forming mob was calling out for their heads to be looped off. That kind of information would be useless to them now that they were bound and captured. The possibility of escape was next to impossible in their current situation. He was their only hope now, seeing as he was the only one of the three who would be able to communicate with the Storm God. He hoped that his Japanese was enough to let him explain that they were not spies.

The group was finally lead to a small clearing surrounded by small bonfires, a few tents lay beyond the fires. They were forcefully shoved down onto the earth, facedown with their hands tied behind their backs. Heero could feel his heart pounding in his chest as the jeering around them become venomous. He swallowed hard as he looked over at Trowa lying next to him. The look in his dark eyes was enough to inform the other of their impending doom.

The crowd quickly fell silent as the sound of men marching through mud approached the three prisoners, heavy armor ringing with each step.

"Seems like you guys finally made it!" a familiar voice declared in plain English.

Heero watched as Trowa's face twisted in confusion, his was probably not much different than his friend's. The three men on the ground turned the best they could to get a look at familiar voice addressing them.

There, perched with legs crossed Indian style on a chair sat Duo. His brilliant blue eyes were dancing with glee and a smile starching from one ear to the other. His hair was free of its usual bond and wild, like a child who had never brushed his locks during the whole of his life. It settled messily across his back with a few strands falling forward over his shoulders, a decorative red comb pinning some of his mane back. He was still cloths in his black kimono with the sleeves held back by a white sash. In addition, he was wrapped in what looked like animal hides and had probably been running around barefooted through the mud for a while.

"Duo..?" WuFei's eyes were wide. "But… you're dead!"

"I'm sitting right here," Duo's smile faded. He turned and nodded at one of the guards. The broad man unsheathed a small blade and quickly cut the thick cords binding the three on the floor. The trio sat up and all eyes fell on Duo once more.

"He's supposed to be dead," WuFei turned his attention towards Trowa. "We buried his head and I've been praying at his grave for a month! You said you saw him get executed!"

"What the hell?" Duo protested. He wasn't sure what kind of morbid things Trowa had made up since the two had separated after their break-in, but he wasn't liking any of it.

"I didn't watch the execution," Trowa admitted. WuFei's eyes narrowed. "You saw the head! It looked just like him! Granted it was bloodied and bruised with the hair chopped off, but it looked just like him!"

"Who did we bury?" Heero questioned.

"This is getting too freaky even for me," Duo finally stood from his spot. "Anyways, what are you guys doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" WuFei snapped back still trying to make sense of everything. "Weren't we supposed to be brought to this 'Susan' god?" he emphasized the god's name in air quotes.

"Susano-o," Heero corrected. His eyes flickered with realization. The former gundam pilot turned to face his loud mouth friend. "You're Susano-o?"

The other two pilots looked up at Duo. A sly, lopsided grin spread across the self-proclaimed shinigami's face. "Yup," he replied proudly placing his hands on his hips triumphantly.

The three remained silent for a moment, taking everything in.

"How the hell did that happen?" WuFei couldn't wrap his mind around this new information.

Duo simply smiled his carefree smile and gestured for his friends to follow him into one of the many tents. He would have fun recounting his adventures from the past few months since he split from Trowa. After that it would be time to get serious about stopping Mariemaia once again. Things were only going to get easier now that the four of them were together again. He only prayed that Trowa didn't remember his betrayal from a few months ago.

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A/N: Duo is back! YAY!

Well, I don't know if anyone is still reading this (someone must be since I got an add to favorite story alert some time ago), but I thank those who are still with me in advance for still putting up with my shenanigans. Putting out a chapter once a month is hard. I don't know how people upload once a week. That's just insane to me! Anywho, thanks for sticking with me and here's to the next chapter!


	12. Declaration of War

_**Disclaimer: **_blah blah blah no ownership of GundamWing blah..._**  
**_

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_**Chapter 12:  
**Declaration of War_

Quatre's head lifted as the man at the other end of the hallway got up to make his way forward. Even from within the boxed off curtain he and Mariemaia were sitting behind, he clearly recognized the lanky figure. A bright smile crossed his features as he sighed in relief. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the young girl stiffen in her place as she too recognized the messenger from Susano-o's camp.

The tall man knelt before the curtained off area, careful to keep his head low. "Is there a proper way that I should greet you two?" Trowa asked in plain English.

"You're alright!" Quatre nearly got up from his place.

"Heero and Duo told me to keep my head down while speaking to you," his abrupt statement kept the blonde in his place. "They said that if I look up at you two, I'd probably be killed for disrespecting 'gods'."

It took a moment to register, but Quatre finally understood. No one in the court could understand what they were saying. So the matter in which he spoke didn't matter as long as he acted and sounded accordingly.

"What are you doing here..?" Mariemaia was pensive. She had lived two months with Duo, who had appointed himself Susano-o and was backed by Quatre, and hated every moment of it. The two of them had fought constantly, like bickering siblings, wearing down Quatre's skills as peacekeeper and patience to the breaking point. She hoped that if he did stay, Trowa wouldn't be as much as a nuisance as Duo had been. She could always use another minion.

"I have a letter to deliver," Trowa reached into his kimono and produced a neatly folded piece of paper, holding it up towards the two with both hands.

A servant quickly took the paper from the messenger and opened it. He was about to read it for the two gods when he suddenly stopped, taken aback. A look of despair clouded his features as he turned the paper over in his hands again and again.

"It's written in French," Trowa informed.

"Duo knows French?" Mariemaia's face twisted a bit.

"Not really. He just wanted it written in French."

"Why?"

"Something about it being the 'language of love'. I don't know," Trowa confessed slightly annoyed. "I can't follow his logic. I just wrote it and am delivering it."

Quatre spoke something to the servant and he was handed the letter. He was about to read it when Mariemaia snatched it away from him. "That's quite rude," he sighed.

Mariemaia ignored him. Her eyes darting across each line as she read its contents to herself. "Are you serious?" She nearly shrieked angrily, getting to her feet.

Quatre took the letter from her and began reading it. It did indeed start off as a love letter, addressing the young girl lovingly and wishing for her wellbeing. The second paragraph, however, was anything but loving. It demanded that she step down from her position as goddess or suffer the consequences. The next paragraph changed both hand and language, demanding that she return with Trowa and Quatre, if not, an army of over a hundred thousand strong was ready to march into the capitol and remove her by force. The paper was signed by the remaining ex-gundam pilots.

A bright smile stretched across Quatre's lips. The others were all together and doing fine. He had been worrying about them all since their arrival in this land. His mind was finally at ease knowing that they were all safe.

"You're move, Mariemaia," Trowa's voice was deadpan as always, carrying a hint of iciness to it. A very serious warning that could only result in disaster if not heeded.

"Let's go, Mariemaia," Quatre agreed.

The young girl looked down at Quatre, clearly upset. "I will not!" she raised her voice.

Quatre's normally soft features hardened, his eyes narrowing on her. "We have to go now," he repeated. "You've had your time as ruler and you did unite this land. You did something great, but now we have to go. You promised you would."

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!" Quatre finally lost his cool. He rose to his feet and towered over the younger girl menacingly. "You said six months ago that if we found a way back, that you'd give up your title as goddess and ruler of this land! And now you're going back on your word!"

"Trowa!" she turned to face the slender brunette angrily, "do you guys have a way home?"

Trowa finally looked up, a bit confused about the line of question. "No," he finally answered, "but if we all-"

"I never agreed to giving up my title just because you've all managed to find each other and be one big happy family again!" she reputed. "If you don't recall correctly, I said I would give up being a goddess and go home quietly _if_ you found a way back. But you haven't. No one has. Thus, I'm not going back on anything that I've said!"

Quatre's eyes widened. His mind raced to recall the young girl's words from months ago. Indeed, she had agreed to relinquish power only if they could get home. "What does it matter?" he blurted out frustrated. "Let's just go and work with everyone else to get back home!"

"NO!"

"Duo and the other _will_ oust you if they have to! You know that!"

"Let them try!" She snapped before turning back to Trowa who had remained silent so far. "Go back to that misfit group of yours and tell them not to mess with me! I didn't fear you five years ago and I certainly don't fear you now!" With that, Mariemaia turned on her heels and exited the courtroom, leaving everyone present in stunned silence.

"I'm gonna kill her…" Quatre sighed under his breath as he brought his hand up to rub the bridge of his nose. "Duo was right in calling her an annoying brat, to put it lightly." The blond man turned to Susano-o's messenger with saddened, pleading eyes. "Whatever you guys do, please try to be subtle about it."

Trowa huffed with amusement as he got up from his place. "When have any of us ever been discreet during battles?"

###

Quatre brooded over the situation as he stared out into the garden. A late summer storm was heading towards the palace. Even from such a faraway distance, the scent of wet earth and warm air enveloped the young man.

"I won't let them win!" Mariemaia glided from one end of the room to the other, often looking down at the large map on the floor. She'd normally be sitting with her generals, looming over the map and coming up with strategies to ensure their success. This time however, she opted to ask Quatre for his opinion, being the strategist he is, and dismissed her generals for the day. Quatre, of course, had outright refused to help her fight against the other ex-gundam pilots. Now, the young girl was furious. "Why don't you just run along with the other pilots!" she steamed, turning towards him. "If you're not going to help, then you're obviously against me!"

Quatre had made sure to stay out of her way the whole evening. He had placed himself at the wide open shoji door and just watched over her from a distance. This, of course, didn't mean that she had ignored him. Every so often she would turn and vent her frustration out on him, as she did now. He sighed deeply, placing his tea down carefully beside him. "Because someone has to keep an eye on you," he informed.

She turned to look down at her map again. "I don't need spies in my camp!" she yelled.

"I'm not a spy," he corrected her. "I'm not reporting your actions to anyone. I have no way of getting in contact with Trowa or the others. I'm simply making sure you don't do something stupid!"

"Hump!"

And that was the end of that. Quatre turned his attention out the door again. He wished it didn't have to come to this. He knew deep down that somehow or another, his fellow pilots will find a way to overthrow her. He just hoped that said actions wouldn't spark an even bloodier war then what loomed on the horizon.

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A/N: 1 self-imposed missed deadline and 3 failed chapter versions later and we can once again continue with the story! Yay! Any thoughts so far?


	13. The Three Honorable Siblings

**_Disclaimer: _**Don't own Gundam Wing... or the characters. Just this silly story.

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**_Chapter 13:  
_**_The Three Honorable Siblings_

Quatre couldn't help but feel nervous when he looked out over the two armies that were amassing at opposite ends of the plain below. He and Mariemaia had traveled to the battle front to personally oversee this great battle that will ensue. Even after having lived through both Eve Wars back home, he could not ever remember seeing such a large amount of people before in the whole of his life. When he had read that there was an army of a hundred thousand strong waiting for the young goddess's own army, he thought that Duo had exaggerated a bit. He was sure that that number had not been reached by either side, but now he wondered how the braided man had been able to gather so many people in such a short span of time.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he swallowed as his light eyes swept across the plain. He brought his hand up to his chest and held onto the cloth lightly. That strange feeling he would usually get when something unexpected was about to happen was stirring within him once more.

"Pfff!" the young girl brushed him off with a wave of her hand. "You always have a bad feeling about everything."

Quatre eyed the young girl over. He wanted to protest, but his mind couldn't get away from this feeling that filled him with dread. He couldn't explain it, no matter how hard he had ever tried. Most of his sister had just accepted it as a sort of sixth sense, his father had dismissed this side of him completely, and for the most part, only Duo and WuFei seemed to realize that there was something more to this feeling then meet the eye.

An officer strolled up to the two god's tent and knelt down before them. "Hail, O' merciful Amaterasu O-Mikami! A convoy approaches from your Honorable Brother, Susano-o's camp," he informed the two gods.

Mariemaia glanced over at Quatre. He shrugged slightly. She returned her gaze to the man before her. "What do they want?" she questioned, annoyance clearly in her voice.

"I do not know, but I believe that the scouts have spotted Susano-o himself among the convoy."

The young girl's eyes narrowed threateningly. What could Duo possibly want now? Didn't any of them get it? She wasn't giving up her claim no matter what any of them said or did. They would have to force her off her new throne if they really wanted her out of power, and that wouldn't go over very well with the natives. She was a goddess to the people and of this land and they would not stand for it, even if it was her godly bothers who dethroned her.

"Make sure he is well received," she waved her small hand at the officer, dismissing him from her presents. The officer bowed his head before turning and leaving.

"What do you think he wants?" she questioned angrily.

Quatre huffed amused by the question. Of course she already knew the answer to that. "To ask you to surrender before this meaningless fight begins."

"You don't think I can take them on, do you?" she eyed Quatre menacingly.

The blonde crossed his arms, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breathe. "For your age, you're quit formidable, and stubborn to boot." He heard the young girl breath sharply. "You're very much like your father," he continued on a much softer note. "He surrounded himself with capable people and got things done. He could be rather underhanded at times, but he got the results that _he_ wanted. He knew how to get a crowd's attention, how to work them and seemed to love being in the lime light. People describe him as 'charming'. I say 'manipulator'. Regardless of the wording, it's all the same in the end. Even though I never personally met him, I think he was a great man. Clear minded with high expectations, for himself and those he surrounded himself with. You're much the same way, just a bit more flamboyant."

Quatre looked down at the young girl. A warm smile was now embedded on her delicate lips and her features soft. Even though she had never met her father either, she was quit fond of hearing what others had to say about him, the good and the bad. But especially the underhanded bad parts.

"Well," she began in a much more upbeat tone, "might as well go see what he's up to." And with that, the young girl made her way down the improvised walkway to what would be her receiving area.

Quatre followed close behind. A sly grin on his face as he mentally tallied another victory for himself over Mariemaia. Now, if only he could figure out how to make her surrender and return with the others before things got way out of hand.

###

Mariemaia and Quatre's eyes went wide as Duo and two generals made their way forward. He had unbound his hair from its usual braid. It now looked like a dirty and completely knotted mess at his back. For some reason, he was walking around barefoot and the animal hides he was wrapped in made him look like some sort of caveman.

"Have you ever heard of a brush?" Mariemaia questioned rather disgusted by his new look.

Duo stopped and his generals knelt at his side in the presents of the three honorable siblings. "Gotta look the part," he replied, a Cheshire smile on his face. He shifted a bit uncomfortably as the other two continued to gawk at his new look. "I still have the comb you gave me," he began reaching up to the small red comb which pinned a portion of his hair back. He pulled it out and held it in his hands for a moment. "I kinnda miss you brushing my hair out."

Mariemaia smirked as Quatre smiled warmly. About the only thing that had kept the two from killing each other when they lived together was the fact that Duo allowed the young girl to play with his hair. In all honesty, it had taken Quatre by surprised. He knew the other pilot was protective and particular about his long mane. Trowa had once offered to cut it for him, leaving the dark clad youth appalled by the suggestion. Yet, Duo had allowed Mariemaia to care for his hair. She had spent hours brushing it out with that little red comb, thoroughly absorbed and enjoying herself with the seemingly endless task.

"Anyways," Duo pinned his hair up again, "this is your last chance, Marie. You don't want to do this. Not with Trowas, Heero, and WuFei plotting this all out. Those guys are crazy intense!" Though, deep down inside, he wished that Quatre had been the one on his side. The other three combined could never outshine the Arab man's tactical brilliance, even if the blond failed to see that himself.

"Mariemaia!" she snapped back, anger rising once more. She hated being called Marie. There was just something about that name that rubbed her the wrong way. And don't even get her started with Mia. She swore that she'd punch that next person who ever dared to 7butchered her name again.

Duo's grin was lost to confusion before he sighed heavily. She wasn't going to budge. Of course she wasn't going to budge! Why had he expected otherwise? Hope? Like when he had hoped that peace would magically come to the colonies so that he wouldn't have to descended to earth in Deathscythe? He frowned before turning around and quietly making his way back out, his generals at his heels. There was no point in staying any longer, besides the sun was going to set soon and he needed dinner.

Quatre sighed and tried one last time. "Please reconsider?"

"Hell no!" she got up and started heading for her quarters.

"This isn't going to end well…" Quatre was practically her shadow. He rarely let her out of his sight nowadays and it was staring to annoy her.

Halfway up to their quarters, the two turned to watched as Duo and his generals rode away into the distance. They both knew that the fighting would begin in earnest as soon as the sun rose the next morning. So, for now, they would retreat to their tents for much needed rest and-

A horn wailed in the distance and the two gods turned their attention back to the retreating convoy. As they watched, the two generals who flanked Duo raised red flags and sounded their horns once more before breaking off and heading in separate directions.

"What are they up to..?" Mariemaia questioned as her clear eyes narrowed. She was a bit edgy and very distrustful of those horns.

Quatre shrugged. She couldn't seriously be thinking that Duo was going to make his move now, could she? The sun was already setting. No one was stupid enough to fight a battle in the dark. Especially two bronze aged armies. There was a reason all historical battles had been fought during the day time, and it was simply because no one could see anything at night. It was meaningless to fight once the sun had set. You were more likely to stab someone on your side then your enemy during such an encounter.

A flicker to the far east side of the plain caught both of their eyes and the young girl gasped. Quatre's jaw dropped open as his eyes widened. He didn't know how, but the rice patties at the far end of the plain were being set on fire. One by one, they watched in stunned silence as the evening sky was lit up in a blazing glory.

"There goes our food rations for this upcoming winter," Quatre said dryly. "Still won't reconsider?"

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A/N: Ohh, Mariemaia! You're such a strong-headed and steadfast young lady!

Anyways, I missed out uploading a chapter back in March (I think) and felt kinnda bad about it. Mostly because I broke my self imposed deadline of one chapter a month. So I will try to get a second chapter out sometime around the 20th- 26th of this month. Two chapters this month! ENJOY!


	14. The Art of Deception

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Gundam Wing... never will. But I do lay ownership to this lil story!**  
**

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_**Chapter 14:  
**The Art of Deception_

Heero was rudely awakened by a stern voice at the entrance of his tent in the middle of the night. This would be the third night in a row that he hadn't been allowed to sleep because of the little girl. He shrugged the thought aside, knowing that something had gone horribly wrong, as it had the previous few nights But where? And more importantly, when? Damn! How he hated this time period. The lack of surveillance equipment made the enemy's movements very difficult to keep track of. This new development, whatever it was, could have happened hours ago as far as he was concerned.

As he dashed out to the small clearing that was Susano-o's war council area he looked around. A few of the native generals who had allied with Duo where already there, overlooking the map at the center of the clearing with WuFei.

"What happened?" Duo rubbed the sleep out of his blue eyes as he came up to the map.

"Mariemaia's army is retreating," WuFei informed as he pointed to the small valley nestled between the mountains that had been the young girl's capitol since her assentation into power.

"That's a good thing!" Duo beamed. His smile slowly diminished as no one returned the gesture. Wasn't a retreating army a sign of victory? Or was there something else that they weren't telling him? "This is bad, because..?"

"She's up to something." Heero responded bringing his thumb up to his lips.

Duo rolled his eyes. Of course she was up to something. Any idiot could have guessed that much, especially with this impromptu meeting. Hell, the little girl always had something up her sleeve. Une had informed them a year or two ago that it was Mariemaia's idea to send the gundams down to earth as a distractions before commencing the real Operation Meteor. That way, everyone's attention would have already been focused on something before the true operation came to fruition. Thank goodness that never panned out the way it was supposed to. Duo shivered at the thought. She was a sly kid.

"She gains no strategic advantage by retreating," WuFei half muttered more to himself. "If they retreat they'd be trapped," he looked up at Duo. "The city they are holed up in is flanked on three sides by high mountains. While they'd have the advantage at the pass, taking our forces out in this bottle neck area, they also wouldn't have a good means of retreat from there if we suddenly took the upper hand. Their only means of escape from that valley would be this little passage that leads north to this lake. It'd be way too difficult to move such a large army through such a tiny mountain pass," he pointed everything out to Duo.

"So now what?" Duo looked around. Sure he had fought as an able combatant during the war five years ago, but he wasn't much of a strategist. He was more of an opportunist and go-with-the-flow type of guy. To be honest, he was quite content taking orders from someone who had a better grasp of the situation then he did. "We know Quatre won't allow men to die unnecessarily and Mariemaia would never turn tail and run."

Heero's dark eyes shifted onto Duo. Running away seemed to be out of the question for all Khushrenadas. Which lead him to his next contemplation: like her father, she must be plotting something that would take them by surprise. What was she really trying to cover up with this retreat? Even from having played a few board games with her in the past, Heero knew that Mariemaia enjoyed luring people into a false sense of security before striking back when you least expected it. They had spent days battling it out with the game of Risk once. The only reason that game had ended was because Une had finally lost her temper, stuffed all the pieces back into the box and shoved the game into a closet. The poor game had been condemned to a life sentence of solitude confinement with no chance of parole. He sighed heavily. He really had wanted to finish that game.

"So… do we hold our ground or follow?" Duo voiced out. His eyes meet both of the other pilot's gaze. He didn't push to get either to talk. That would be pointless. The other two only spoke when they felt the need to do so. Nothing short of an epiphany would get either to divulge whatever it was that was going on behind those dark pair of eyes, and even then, you only got a small fragment of what they were really thinking.

"Susano-o no-Mikoto-sama," one of the generals finally spoke up. "It would not be wise to stay where we are. We must follow your Honorable Sister and take the pass leading into the city. Once we control that, she will have nowhere to run and we will be able to take the city within a few days' time."

The three ex-gundam pilots eyed one another. This man clearly did not know who he was up against. But at the same time they couldn't just sit around and wait. That would mean giving the young girl time, and time, as they had all experienced in the past, was a dangerous thing to just hand to your opponent.

"If they don't move by the time the sun is at its highest," Duo began, "we storm in and take the pass at all costs."

All the men nodded before slowly disbursing. Whether Heero or WuFei like it or not, there really was no other choice. They had to move and take any opportunity they could against the little girl. This was a trap and all three of them knew it. They just had to figure out how it would be sprung. The three would spend the rest of the night coming up with all possible scenarios as to what might happen next.

###

Trowa slipped his hand into the slit of the flap of the tent and brushed past to enter. Littered across the dirt floor was a map, several pieces of paper, ink wells, brushes, and his fellow pilots using one another as pillows. His emerald eyes danced from one sleeping face to the next. Knowing his background, Duo had probably done this millions of time before and thought nothing of this sleeping arrangement. He probably even felt more comfort sleeping in such close proximity to someone else. Lord knows Duo had curled up way to close for his own comfort next to him every night during their travels together. The other two must have been exhausted beyond imagination to actually have fallen asleep in such an undignified manner.

The tall man walked up to the trio as silent as a cat. He stood quietly contemplating whether to wake them or let them continue sleeping when his eyes fell on one of the many ink wells scattered across the ground. His slender fingers twitched as the need to pick up one of those brushes and actually draw something on their unsuspecting face overwhelmed him. A faint smile crossed his lips as he weighed the consequences of such actions.

"I'll break your arm if you do," Heero's voice was very hoarse and low. Trowa watched as the other man slowly opened his eyes, stretching his arms before sitting up and unceremoniously swatting Duo's head off his legs. The other man's head hit the ground with a thud and his eyes shot open as he groaned, a sour look on his features. His sudden movement woke the last pilot, who had been using the American's stomach as a pillow.

"What time is it?" WuFei rubbed his almond eyes with the back of his hand.

"Past noon," Trowa answered.

"Has Mariemaia's army tried to move forward?" Duo asked sleepily.

"No. We've taken the pass and most of the city. Their army is nowhere to be found."

The three on the floor shot awake and eyed the tall brunette incredulously.

"Wh-what? Why didn't you wake us up!" Duo was clearly confused. "What do you mean they're not in the city?"

Trowa eyed each of them and shrugged slightly. "They're not there… for the most part." He brought a hand up to his chain and took in a deep breathe. "We're in the city, doing a street by street sweep. So far, very few of her army's men have been located, most of them hiding as civilians."

Heero's face scrunched up in confusion. How could a whole army of thousands disappear in a single night? That was just physically impossible, even for the former dictator-to-be. There was no way in hell that a whole army could move out of the small valley without out them taking notice of it… was there? He swatted aside a few sheets of paper and glared at the map, the others joining him. What had they missed? Where had they missed it?

Tense moments passed before Trowa spoke up. "I could have sworn that there a small set of mountains here, running down this way with a valley behind it…" his slender fingers brushed the map.

The other three looked down at the area. Indeed there was a mountain there, it was the east end of the pass leading into the capitol city. It only showed up as a single peak on their map when in fact it was a small range of about four peaks sloping in a south-easterly direction. The valley behind it was only accessible through another pass located a couple of dozen kilometers north of the one they had currently taken that morning and at the far southern end which ended right behind their camp…

The four glared at one another before quickly getting to their feet and straightening their cloths. They had barely shuffled out the tent when sets of horns wailed somewhere to the back of the campsite. The four stood frozen for a moment as the horns were followed by a deadly silence. Those horns were definitely not from their camp.

A buzzing sound slowly rose above the silence. Everyone's eyes promptly rose to the sky as a barrage of flaming arrows reached their zenith and proceeded to fall, striking their victims indiscriminately while setting everything else ablaze. Men scrambled in a disorderly manner, confusion and chaos rapidly spreading throughout the campsite. The only thing everyone seemed to wordlessly agree on was to race forward towards the capitol and the safety of the bulk of Susano-o's army.

A moment later, a thundering sound began to grow louder at their backs. A quick glance revealed men on horseback rapidly weaving their way between tents. The sight quickened every fleeing man's pace. The enemy struck down any and all who opposed them and seemed to be taking the rest prisoners.

"Don't get separated!" WeFei's voice came from somewhere ahead. An order that was easier said than done at this point. The four young men continued within the crowd of fleeing solders. They couldn't allow themselves to get captured.

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A/N: Oh, how I love Mariemaia so much! I can't ever imagine that she wouldn't be a sly and cunning child.


	15. A Turn of Events

_**Disclaimer: **_No ownage or share of Gundam Wing... just this odd little story._**  
**_

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_**Chapter 15:**  
A Turn of Events_

Quatre strolled down the riverbank peacefully, taking in the scenery as the late afternoon progressed. He watched for a moment as a few birds bathe themselves at the river's edge. They were so carefree about the world and their surroundings that it made him jealous. He had always longed to be free. To do as he pleased. But as the hire to his family's fortune, president of his late father's business, and one of the key representatives of the L-4 Colonies such freedom was an impossible dream. He was always in the lime light, surrounded by business and politics from his waking moment until he returned to his bed at the end of the day. His busy schedule and lack of personal time drove him crazy. He was sure that he would someday snap and go crazy, inadvertently bringing himself even more unwanted attention.

He sighed as his light eyes swept across the river. Looking up at the clear sky he deeply thanked Allah for blessing him with so many wonderful sisters, who had over the years taken over many section of their father's business, alleviating him from many unnecessary responsibilities.

"You look rather happy," Mariemaia's voice drifted into his thoughts. The blond man turned and watched as the small girl pulled her kimono up and tiptoed into the river until she was ankle deep.

"I have no one following or watching my every move. It is a godsend!" he radiated joy. "And thank you for sending the guards away. I didn't think that they would actually agree to leave us."

"I'm sure some are somewhere close by," she dug her toes into the cold mud of the riverbank, her smile growing.

He bit his lips nervously as he looked around. It had taken quite a while to convince the young girl to ask their guards and escorts to leave them. And while their large entourage was certainly nowhere near, he was certain that a few of the guards where somewhere in the vicinity, keeping a close eye on the two gods.

"So, where do you think the other are?" Mariemaia broke the silence.

Quatre looked over at the small girl. It had been nearly a week since they had attacked Susano-o's camp. They had known that the four other pilots had been in the campsite when the attack began, but had not been captured or seen by any of her soldiers. They had expected that the others would regroup with Susano-o's army in the capitol and make a counteroffensive, but they hadn't. Once that had become clear, Mariemaia ceased her attacks on the enemy army, allowing them to disburse without consequence. Many of Susano-o's soldiers quickly joined her ranks afterward.

"I don't know…" Quatre responded quietly, biting his lower lip. His aqua eyes rose and settled on the young girl as his mind raced. "You're sleeves are going to get wet," he warned.

The girl backed away from the river and cursed. She pulled the cascade of fabric up her pale arm and cursed once more as she realized that there was no way she was going to keep so much fabric from getting wet. She stood for a moment contemplating the situation before taking in her surroundings. With a slight shrug, the young girl let the layers of kimono drop from her small frame and onto the ground. The sleeves of the kimono she was wearing weren't as long so that she wouldn't have to worry about them. "There!" she grinned and stepped into the river once more.

Quatre brought his hand to his lips, smiling genuinely. It was at times like this the he completely forgot his anger and resentment towards her and was reminded that she was, in fact, a young child. He only wished that the young girl would behave like this more often. It was easier to get along with her during these moments.

A rustling of branches drew the two god's attention. Mariemaia had expected to see one of her bodyguards approaching, probably asking that the two return to the safety of their campsite. Instead, her crystal eyes grew large as Heero silently made his way forward into the small clearing. "What… How did you get here!"

The man kept quiet, his deep eyes burning into her for what felt like hours before they left her to settle on Quatre.

The small girl swallowed and followed his gaze to her "brother". Again, her eyes widen as Trowa and WuFei made their way forward, flanking the Moon God when they came to a stop at his side. She stared in disbelief at her godly brother, her jaw slightly dropping open.

Sharp splashes in the river drew her attention behind her. Her crystalline eyes were met by a pair of darker blue ones and a wide, playful smile. "Miss me, little princess?" Duo's Cheshire smile widened, eyes locked and narrowing on the girl menacingly.

"You tricked me!" she hissed turning back to Quatre.

"I've done no such thing," the blond defended himself. "I simply suggested a private outing between the two of us, to which you agreed. And conveniently did not mention that we would be joined by the others."

"You also conveniently got me to send the guards away," she sneered back.

"I merely made a suggestion and pushed for its fruition. Again, to which you conceded."

The young girl opened her mouth wide, taking in a sharp, deep breathe. In a split second, a strong hand clasped over her small lips as another wrapped itself around her waist. She struggled against the vice-like grip but to no avail. Her mind raced furiously as she continued to fight against Duo's grip.

"This ends now, Mariemaia," Quatre stepped forward, a stern look etched into his normally soft features. "You've had your fun. Whether you like it or not, we're finding a way back home." With that, the Arab man turned, heading towards the woods. The other pilots following silently.

The girl's eyes flickered with rage. They will pay for this. Even if it was the last thing she did.

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A/N:  
DAMN! Life caught up with me again. I apologize to the few who are still being entertained by my ramblings.


End file.
